Twist of Time
by Firewithin - 2
Summary: Tweak a certain part of someone's timeline and watch the rippling effects cascade throughout history. When his song was meant to end, the wolf reared back and howled. The timelines twisted and his life was spared. Can the Doctor unravel the mystery and save her heart in time? Its beats are numbered; a beast is on the prowl. And some people just refuse to stay dead. (After JE; S4)
1. Chapter 1

Hope everyone will enjoy this fic. This is rated M for the content; however this version will have all adult content edited for those who wish to avoid it. To view the full-unedited version of this story that WILL include adult content, please visit my Whofic account (link on my profile page) and find me under **Firewithin**. My new and lovely beta is ten_dr_rose from ! I'm american and lack british dialect so she's helping me along the way. I like to keep people guessing, so expect a lot of twists in this. Also, I love reviews, even if this story or chapter is already posted and it's been well over a year...I really enjoy your constructive criticism! Anyway, read away :)

Chapter One

Twenty-four hours. It had only been a day. Just…a single day. And yet, the Doctor had forgotten time altogether. He refused to eat, refused to rest, and at times, refused to even breathe. He just stood there, frozen at the console of the TARDIS, trying so very hard to gain control of himself.

Emotions were consuming him like wildfire – pain, suffering, loss, heartbreak. The friends who had travelled with him, his Children of Time… He had seen them all safely home, one by one until there was nobody left within the TARDIS. His last glance at Donna as he walked out her door had nearly killed him as reality dropped like a crumbling brick wall – he was alone. Always alone!

_Oh, dear sweet Rose. How much he needed her right now... _

The Doctor swallowed hard, his jaw tense as he thought back to the moment when he'd left her with his human counterpart to live a somewhat normal life. That human part of him was a reminiscence of his ninth self before Rose had undeniably changed his very soul. The man would love her and she would heal the single heart he carried inside. But the Doctor found himself asking the same question over and over again; letting her go…it was for the best, right? She was just a human! Brilliant and kind and full of life, yes, but still a mere human who would one day fall prey to claws of time.

He really should stop focusing on what was now in the past. He was cursed to live this life of exile! The Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds, Killer of his own Kind; he deserved no one!

His inner self-loathing was interrupted when the TARDIS suddenly lurched from her peaceful drift within the Time Vortex, throwing the Doctor off his feet. He scrambled for the jump seat as his beloved ship rocked violently, the vessel groaning in rebellion as she fought to override the Doctor's control settings.

"Of all the bloody times, why now?!" he shouted at her, unable to do anything more than hold on tightly to the seat. Buttons flickered, dials spun, and levers shifted of their own accord as the TARDIS redirected their course of travel.

"What is it old girl? Tell me what's wrong with you!" The Time Lord strained to reach the console to no avail. Visual screens were going haywire, static replacing what should have been coordinates of their current location. Something was very wrong and he had to get the ship stabilized before she crash landed on some foreign planet.

With a growl, the Doctor lunged at the console in a last-ditch effort to hit the manual reset sequence, but the TARDIS shook and a strong electric pulse zapped his hand back with force. The shockwave sent a message to him, a clear and single shout that echoed deep within his soul from the TARDIS herself. "_DOCTOR_!"

Before he could even process the cry, the TARDIS pitched forward as she hit solid ground, tossing her occupant from the jump seat to the ramp below. With a hiss, the single front door swung open of its own accord as his ship moaned from her efforts to keep them both alive and safe.

TheTARDIS pulsed, a mental cry that begged him to exit the ship. The urgency of her cry was enough to drag the Doctor to his feet before he stumbled out the door, completely disoriented from his fall.

It took the Doctor a second to regain his thoughts as the world once again settled to a stand-still. Rubbing his head gingerly with one hand, he walked a full circle around the blue box, checking for exterior damage.

"Right then, no physical damage to be found…," he murmured, satisfied with his exam before glancing up at the sky. "…but, where in the blazes have you taken us?"

Red soil, red mountains, and a blood red sky greeted him. That was a whole lot of, well, RED - not a colour he was particularly fond of. The air was dry and dusty, with not a plant or drop of water for as far as his eyes could see.

"Honestly now, what's gotten into you all of a sudden? Why take me here?" The Doctor asked – more to himself- as he took in the deserted wasteland. No signs of life or civilization, so was this a dead planet?

Turning back to the TARDIS in confusion, he thought to check the readings on the console, but the doors suddenly slammed shut in his face, the locks echoing after to reinforce the statement.

"WHAAAT? What is this?! What the bloody hell is going on?!" He tested the doors, tried his key, and then even snapped his fingers – something he'd only done once before when he met River Song in earlier travels at the library- but the doors would not yield, effectively trapping him outside.

Frustrated, the Doctor placed a hand against the doors and mentally sought the TARDIS inside. It was calling out, mourning something lost yet never forgotten. He could feel its internal plea, the calling of something distant, something tormented that needed saving.

"You brought me here for something, but what? What would cause you to override the system and strand us out in the middle of nowhere?" he mused to himself as he drew out his sonic screwdriver. He adjusted the settings and began scanning the air around him, trying to detect some form of life or clue of his whereabouts before a smile lit up face as he found exactly that. Life!

"Ha! Brilliant, I am! We're not alone; we have life on this planet after all…" He knelt to the ground, bringing the sonic down as he scanned for a more direct answer. There was life indeed, deep below the surface of the earth!

"Question is, how do I get inside?" He stood and began pacing in large circles around the TARDIS, all the while scanning the air and ground.

"Ah, there we are! We have a signal," he murmured aloud before setting off to find the source. Minutes passed by until the Doctor found himself at the base of what looked to be a large, rocky cliff.

"I bet this is more than meets the eye…"

As he drew the sonic across the red rock, he found exactly what he'd been looking for – a hidden door. Switching the frequency, he channelled the sonic at the invisible lock until the rocky wall snapped and shuddered, giving way to slowly reveal an opening.

For a moment, the Time Lord hesitated. It had only been one day since he'd separated from his friends after such a painful victory against the Daleks. His hearts were still bleeding from the turmoil aching within. Was he truly ready to strike out on such a strange planet so soon? Could he cope with his loss in the middle of all this potential chaos?

The Doctor swallowed hard as he took one long glance at his beloved TARDIS sitting out in the distant red desert. Yes. He had to push forward with this. His ship was hurting and he had no idea what was wrong with it. Her pain and anguish within his mind was almost unbearable when he actually focused on it. She was begging him to find the source and he would do this for the sake of the TARDIS, if nothing else.

-

The cavern within was lit with what seemed to be simple torches anchored to red stone wall, but the sonic screwdriver told him they'd been burning for over a thousand years. Instead of a solid surface, the ground was literally made of metal grating, very similar to the TARDIS console room flooring. The grating simply seemed to be self-suspended, floating on the black abyss below because it wasn't anchored to anything solid. A quick scan of the sonic revealed that the basis of the planet was electromagnetic, so the Doctor made the assumption that the planet had a Central Computer Core, somewhere deep within.

"So if the planet is centred on a CCC…" the Doctor read his scans as he walked, always one to examine the make-up of every new thing he came across. His findings only seemed to become more unsettling with every step.

"Ooooh, I have a bad feeling about this. I need to find the power source; these readings are very wrong. The planet structure should have collapsed by now…so why are you still standing?"

He paused when the cavern opened up into a wide, torch-lit chamber, several doorways littered along all sides of the circular cavern.

"Fantastic…now what?"

With nothing stirring within the open chamber, the Doctor crept out and scanned his surroundings. That's when the sonic screwdriver pulsed and gave an unusual bleep, something the Doctor was unfamiliar with.

"Hello, what have we got here?" He pulled his glasses out for a moment and placed them the bridge of his nose, rereading the meter in disbelief as he puzzled over this new scan.

"The TARDIS…how on earth are you doing that?"

The Doctor was now more than a little concerned. The TARDIS was a living vessel, as much alive as it was a part of him, but it rarely took control of their travels and it never, ever interfered with his sonic. How was that even possible? Then again, the more he said "impossible," the more it seemed to be just the opposite.

Pocketing his glasses, he found himself being directed through the second doorway to his right, his ship locking the sonic's signal to an unknown source it so desperately mourned for.

A planet that should already be dead, the TARDIS's distress - the puzzle was becoming more of a headache with every step!

With his mind thrown into full alert, the Time Lord made his way through the doorway. This new tunnel was much longer and quite narrow, his worry getting the better of him as he sped up his pace. He tried to control his anxiety, but it was becoming less and less stable. Too much had happened in too short a time period.

For just a split second, time suddenly seemed to freeze. A mild shock of electric engulfed him and then came the echoing crackles of static as a rather frightening power surge boomed from somewhere up ahead. The grating rattled and hummed with the force and the Doctor was thankful for his Superior Time Lord Biology, allowing him to withstand the shock wave coursing throughout the halls. That's when he heard a pair of very shrill, long, and agonizing screams, causing him to break into a run at such a distressful sound.

"I'm coming, hold on!"

The screams and static vanished minutes later, but he didn't stop running. The Doctor barrelled through doors and halls as his senses took over, directing him to the source until-

He skid to a stop when the hallway ended, grabbing the metal railing before him as he found himself staring into a massive black pit, lit with torches and hovering balls of light. The metal grating had several floors and levels both below and above him, all inner linked into a massive oval. Ramps and doorways were seen through thick steam coming from the blackness below. That's when he realized his error. The Doctor was no longer alone, hidden in the shadows…

-

"Intruder, capture him," a man in a solid black uniform bellowed, arming himself with a rather large gun before rushing to intercept the trespasser. Metal screeched from behind as a grated door fell to seal off the Doctor's current means of escape.

_Guess it's safe to say they're hostile._

The Doctor was standing on a single ramp that led down to the main floor grid and it happened to be just a one-way ramp. If he jumped the railing to evade capture, or if he even tried to charge the men rushing at him now, surely he'd be shot on the spot.

Dropping the sonic screwdriver back into his pocket –hoping they didn't take notice of this fact- the Doctor sank to his knees with his hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, I'm kneeling, see? No harm done, I surrender," he spoke as the men surrounded him.

It was then that he realized these creatures were not human. While they resembled a human form, their eyes were a vivid glowing green and they had razor edged teeth, curled claws, and were all quite bald with just a few random black spots scattered across their scalps. They also looked horribly identical, whatever race they happened to be.

Surrounding the Doctor, the creatures began speaking in a new tongue all together, clearly debating about their next plan of action. It slightly miffed him that he was unable to translate the language…a new language all together perhaps? Or was the TARDIS translation board malfunctioning?

"Who are you, and how did you get here?" The leader finally spoke in a known dialect that the TARDIS could translate, as he prodded the Time Lord with the tip of his gun. If the Doctor didn't know any better, he was pretty sure those guns were Particle Laser Barrels, and they were a bit out of date if he was guessing correctly.

"Yes, right then. I'm the Doctor! And, I came here because…well…I don't know, really… I believe I'm quite lost." He spoke up cheerily enough, trying to act as dumb as possible.

"But do tell me…what are you, and where exactly am I?"

Might as well push for some answers while they were in the listening mood, right? His captors eyed him with suspicion before once again speaking in their unfamiliar language. Why on earth wasn't the TARDIS able to pick it up?

"We are Grethrals," one of the creatures spoke from the right. "And you're going to regret ever stepping foot here. Welcome to Rovinrukbar."

With that, the conversation ended as the leader pulled the Doctor roughly to his feet and shoved him forward with his gun. He was escorted up and down a series of corridors in silence, but his mind was blazing with so many questions.

This planet was new to him and also past its timeline. It shouldn't even exist because the core was literally _dead_, nonexistent. It was being powered and forced into submission by a strong outside source. The TARDIS had taken them here for whatever reason… but he had a feeling there was something even bigger at stake. But of course, he didn't even know _where _or _when_ he was within the universe itself and that feeling was unnerving. It was almost as if his Time Lord senses were being manipulated somehow.

The endless march through corridor after corridor led them to a large room filled with grated prison cells. It took him a second to adjust to the dimmer light…and then he hissed in horror.

Cell upon cell lined either side of the prison, caging in masses of people as they cowered as far away as they possibly could from the approaching group. Men, women, children, all huddled together with desperation and fear in every eye.

"What is this?! What have you done to them? What the _hell_ is going on?" Language and propriety be damned!

The Doctor instinctively began to struggle but he was bashed in the head from behind, enough to remind him that he was at a serious disadvantage here. It was just too much…too much too soon to sanely cope with his situation. He couldn't think clearly, couldn't focus on a way out of a hopeless situation. His normally composed features were crumpling at his feet and there was nothing he could do about it.

His captors came to a stop at the very last cell in the back. Unlike the rest of them, it held just two occupants, both of whom were chained and in a crumpled heap on the grated floor. The men hesitated, eyeing the two unconscious people before the rattle of keys could be heard. As the door was unlocked, every gun was aimed at the three hostages before the Doctor was pushed inside, the door slammed shut behind him.

"We'll leave him here until the _King_ decides on what to do with him." With guns lowered, the leader gave a signal to retreat.

The Doctor stood there, his mind in shock at the horror laid out before him. All these people – humans, they had to be humans! And they were in bloody cages!

"You, there! Tell me, please, what's happening here?" The Doctor called out to a man who was staring at him from several cells away. The man simply shook his head and turned away in fear.

"What about you? Tell me, what have they done here? What do they want with you?" He tried another boy who looked to be closer to his teens. Again, there was no reply.

"No, no, no! What the b-" Grabbing his hair in despair, the Doctor spun around until he remembered there were two people locked in the same cell with him. He whipped out the sonic screwdriver, dropping to the first person.

"Wha-?"

The Doctor fell back when he read the scan, clearly and utterly confused. With speed, he grabbed the unconscious man by the shoulder and flipped him over, pulling him out straight on his back to get a better look at him.

"…It…it can't be…Jack!"

Sure enough, Jack's familiar face greeted him in peaceful slumber that would have fooled anyone else as a dead man. His wrists were cuffed to long chains which were bolted into the red stone wall of their cell and he looked roughed up, probably beaten at some point, if nothing more.

Panting heavily from the over whelming amount of confusion, the Doctor swung around to the woman a few feet away from Jack. He knelt beside her with trembling hands as he ran the sonic over her body for vital signs of life. She had her head cradled in her arms as she lay on her stomach in a small ball from where she fell, her legs curled under her slightly to one side. Her hair, _blonde hair_, was a tangled halo surrounding her face, hiding it away from view. She wore simple jeans and a blue shirt with white trainers. Granted, her clothes were dirty, worn, and torn in many places…but that's not why the Doctor was suddenly hyperventilating.

With hands shaking so bad from the gut wrenching fear within him, he brushed back her hair to get a glimpse of her face… and then his hearts froze.

"…Rose!" he whispered with a sob.

-  
End Author's note: This chapter has been scanned for errors by myself and my lovely beta ten_dr_rose! If you see any more, be sure to send me a private message so that I may go back and correct it! If you enjoyed this chapter, please be sure to let me know, even if this has been posted for awhile. I always love feedback, the good as well as the bad.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and a big hug to everyone who has reviewed, as well as to all my new reviewers along the way :) This story may have been posted in November of 2012, but I still love a new review!

Chapter Two

For an insurmountable amount of time, the Doctor cradled Rose in his arms. After removing her cuffs (Jack's as well) with the sonic screwdriver, he'd scooped her up and sat in the far corner of their cell, settling her to lay curled in his lap with his arms wrapped possessively around her. His emotions were teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown and he fought to gain control of himself. He kissed the top of her head in desperation if only to remind himself that this was real, that _she_ was real.

Rose, his beautiful Rose…she looked exactly like he'd last seen her - had it really been a day? But it couldn't possibly be true…the parallel universe was forever sealed, right? And if this was real, how did she get here? It shouldn't be possible! Where was his human-self in all this? Questions flew through his mind with every passing second until he thought his very mind would crack from the pressure.

So caught up in himself, the Doctor failed to hear a groan as Jack began to stir on the floor a few feet away.

"Good grief, my head!" Jack reached up to massage his temple, but the lack of weight on his wrists made him pause. "Wait a second…" His eyes glanced from either wrist and then to the shadowed figure across the cell.

"Well, it's about time!" Jack cracked a huge grin before sitting up, mindful of his tender head.

The Doctor didn't return the gesture, his eyes cold with such raw emotions as he stared back at Jack.

"What. Happened," he said slowly, pausing after each word. He had to swallow hard to keep his voice from cracking.

Rubbing his wrists, Jack scooted back against the grated wall with a sigh. He leaned to the right as he tried to get a look at a man in an old red jumper before calling, "Hey, Don! How long was I out that time?"

The man called Don waved back with a slight shake of his head. " 'Bout twenty minutes, tops…"

Satisfied with the answer, Jack turned back to the Doctor.

"Before I try to explain this crazy situation…can I ask where the hell you've been all these years?"

"Years?" The Doctor didn't like the sound of that. When Jack nodded, he continued, clearly uneasy with where this was headed.

"What…do you mean years?" he all but whispered before adding, "For me, it's only been a day since you walked off my ship with Martha Jones and Mickey Smith!"

Jack looked at him blankly until it dawned on him exactly what the Doctor meant. "Sooo then, when you left us – I mean, after you dropped everybody off…you travelled two-thousand years into the future?"

"Two-THOUSAND years?!" Did he just hear that right? The TARDIS had thrown them forward two-thousand years of her own accord? And what the hell was wrong with his Time Sense?

"Pretty much! Guess you'll never back-travel between that timeline. It would sure explain your absence all these years!" Jack replied, all cheery as usual. His features sobered up when he looked down at Rose. There was a moment of tense silence as he stared at her.

"She's not doing so well…" he murmured, worry now set on his features. Jack's concern made the Doctor hold Rose a little tighter.

Turning back to the man in red, Jack climbed to his feet and stretched. "Hey, Don, how long was it between power surges this last time?"

Don paused and thought about it, his brown eyes squinting as he ran a hand through his short, blonde hair.

"I'd say it was about an hour between the last set. And you've been out for about twenty minutes, give or take…so we'll have another one here in probably thirty minutes," he answered gravely.

Jack cursed and began pacing his side of the cell. "Listen, Doctor, time travel aside, we're in a lot of trouble. This planet is not going to hold its own for much longer. We need to get these people out of here before they're all killed."

"I think I've noticed that much, Jack, it's quite obvious! But until I know the details, I'm not very much help right now, am I?"

The Doctor was still on the floor, Rose held closely in his arms as if he could shield her from the world. He could hardly take his eyes off her, his disbelief was so strong. He was afraid that if he looked away, she might very well vanish.

"How to make this short – ok then, here goes nothing. We got one heck of a distress signal back at Torchwood. When we couldn't find you, we had to upscale our defences a bit. We had a couple random alien attacks, but we've been able to manage for the most part. Still going, us humans! …But then we got this odd signal from out there, space – it came from a little girl named Mae." He paused, his eyes travelling to another pair of green eyes three cells away from them on the right.

The Doctor followed his gaze until he noticed a little girl with tight black curls peeking out from behind a woman in a worn gray leather suit. The child's stained blue jumper was very baggy, too big to have originally belonged to her because it literally came down past her knees and swallowed up her hands. She had to be about six years old but her eyes spoke of a much deeper intelligence.

"It was a distress signal from her ship, they'd crash landed on this planet and…most of the people didn't survive. She's a brave little champ," Jack grinned at her, but Mae ducked back behind an older woman who reached back to give her a comforting pat.

"Mae managed to hit the right button to call for help. But…by the time we were able to lock onto the coordinates to teleport here, the Grethrals had already stormed the ship. We have about two hundred people here…give or take."

"So these Grethrals take in hostages on a planet that shouldn't even exist. Sounds a bit more like this was a planned assault," the Doctor muttered, his brain starting to twist and turn in rapid thought.

"Yeah, Rose said the same thing. When we got here, the ship was already destroyed, torched to a crisp. Took us a day to find out how to get into this hell hole. This place is just…weird. Shouldn't exist."

"That's not the only thing that's wrong here," the Doctor added as Jack began pacing the front of their cell.

"You said I've been gone for two-thousand years. Have humans even graced the wonders outside of earth aside from satellites, shuttles, and basic moon trips?"

Jack sighed as he ran both hands through his hair, slowly turning back to face the Doctor with a hint of worry hidden on his features.

"…No," he all but whispered. "Earth is still young and naïve about space travel for the most part."

"Then _how_ did a ship full of _humans_ crash on a planet that _shouldn't_ exist?" the Doctor whispered back harshly.

"S'pose they're not really human then, are they?" Rose interrupted, startling the Doctor.

He just about dropped her in fright, clearly not expecting her input.

"Rose! Are you alright, Rose?" He practically sobbed in relief.

Rose still had her eyes closed but pulled her hands up to her face, rubbing her sore temple with a small groan. This had to be a sick joke…the Doctor…she heard his voice, felt hearts beating within his chest, and his scent, oh his wonderful scent – it just couldn't be! She must be going quite mad.

Refusing to open her eyes just yet, Rose moved to get free of the arms around her, rolling to her side very slowly. When her hands settled beneath her on the grated floor, she took the moment to finally open her eyes and steady herself. She felt weak and light headed – but she was alive. Still…alive. _Always alive!_

"Don't even go there, Rose, I know that look in your eyes!" Jack warned, bending down beside her to give her support if she needed it.

The darkness in her eyes fled at Jack's scolding, but she pretended to ignore him nonetheless. With a sigh, she rose to her feet feeling a bit unsteady, but she refused Jack's offered hand.

Unconsciously hugging herself, Rose found herself afraid to look behind her. Her senses told her it was true…the Doctor really was here after all these miserable years. She'd been trying to prepare for this moment, the moment when fate would throw them back together into its cruel, twisted claws.

Seconds seemed to tick by before she finally swallowed the courage to turn around, to face the man who'd torn her heart to pieces twice before. Rose thought she'd be prepared for this, but time itself froze when their eyes finally locked.

Pain, fear, loneliness – fury, frustration, mistrust – love, anguish, heartbreak… The shock of seeing him…so many memories and feelings engulfed her at once that her heart clenched painfully, her hand reaching out to grab at her chest. She suddenly couldn't breathe!

"Rose! Please, take a deep breath, it's ok, Rose, it's ok." The Doctor recognized a panic attack in the making – hell, he was ready to have one himself! But when he tried to take a step towards her, Rose stumbled back to get away from him.

Jack was quick to step between them, grabbing Rose by the shoulder and giving her a hard shake. It took her a second to snap out of it, but when she did, she crumpled to the ground with a sob, unable to think clearly.

The Doctor cursed and spun around, kicking the wall as hard he could behind him. His fists were clenched tight as he paced his side of the cell in frustration. He felt so utterly helpless and torn inside that his emotions were truly getting the better of his judgment.

"This doesn't make any bloody sense!" he yelled with another kick at the wall.

Maybe it was the despair in his voice, or his yelling, or the kick at the wall that brought Rose back to reality. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed herself to her feet, shrugging away from Jack with a rough sigh as she fought to gain control of her racing heart. When had she become so weak?

Rose forced herself to look at the man before her. The Doctor…oh that beautiful, brilliant man in his brown pinstripe suit and overcoat…he looked just as broken as she felt. How she longed to throw herself in his arms and hold him close, to make everything better again.

The moment passed as quickly as it'd come, Rose ripping her eyes away as she swallowed her pain and placed barriers up around her heart and mind. He had left her. Not once, but twice! The suffering she'd had to endure…her mind couldn't handle the thought of it anymore. Right now, she had to focus on the lives she'd come here to save. Right now…she had to forget the Doctor all together and lock her heart up in the black box it belonged in.

"S'pose we'd best find a way outta here then, yeah?"

The Doctor stood there for a moment, not sure how to respond. One second she was in the middle of a panic attack, and the next she was suggesting they run along as if nothing had happened. It took Jack to rescue the situation…

"Look, guys, we're running out of time here. Whatever it is you two need to work out, it can be done later," he said a bit firmly as he stepped between them again.

Rose seemed to take the bait and her features stiffened in authority as she turned to the audience in the other cells.

"Right then, Don!" Rose snapped to the mission at hand, falling into her role as a Torchwood Agent, leaving herself out of the equation. As Rose, she was weak and led by her heart. As an Agent for Torchwood, she was capable of working – saving life to the best of her ability.

"Yes, Ma'am! Don called, coming to the front of his cell.

"This 'ere is the Doctor. You can trust him, so whatever he needs help with, be sure to do exactly what he says. That stands for the rest of you as well," she spoke in a commanding voice. Her strength was returning at a pretty fast rate, but the nagging headache she had wasn't letting up as easily. Best to ignore the pain.

"Doctor." Rose turned to face him. "Care to get us out of here?" She nodded toward the gate, her hands held behind her back in an innocent fashion as she played the role of Agent – not Rose. It was never, ever safe to be Rose Tyler on a mission – if her previous episode was anything to go by.

The Doctor blinked, hesitating. How was he supposed to function in all this? Rose…she was very much the woman he remembered. But she was distant, closed off. Her eyes...where was that beautiful spark they always held? They were so dark…so dangerously dark. But Jack was right. They needed to get out of here, and unless he reeled in his emotions and gained control of the situation, they would all surely perish.

With a shake of his head, the Doctor tried to regain his composure. Maybe if he tried to act more like himself, he'd start feeling better as well. Easier said than done…but he would try it at the very least.

"Yes, well, then…let's get to it!" The Doctor cleared his throat as he fished for his sonic screwdriver and had the cell's lock open seconds later.

Rose quickly pushed him aside, opening the door before rushing past every cell, heading straight for the exit.

"Wait a minute, what about the people?" The Doctor called as he paused between the first set of cages. Jack shook his head as he grabbed the Doctor's wrist, dragging him along.

"After," he answered, breaking into a jog to keep up with Rose – still dragging the confused man behind him.

"Right now we need to find our equipment. Don't worry, they're protected for now. Rose and I set up a barrier around the cells to keep them safe from the electrical surges that started just after we got here. Unlock the cells and it breaks down the barrier, so we'll come back for them when we can get the hell out of here!"

The trio ran together down the grated halls, Rose in the lead as she ducked through random corridors. If the Doctor didn't know any better, it seemed to him as if she knew exactly where she was going. And he was right, she did.

With a gleeful sob, Rose halted at a solid metal door.

"In here, I can feel it!" She said, rattling the door to test the lock.

The Doctor waved her aside as he scanned the door. After several seconds, nothing happened.

"This one's gonna be a tough one." He glanced to the right, noticing a key pad beside the door.

"Oooor, I could just cheat a little bit!"

He turned the sonic to the key pad and a moment later, the locks clicked open.

"There we are, open for business."

Rose practically threw the door open, Jack quickly catching it before it hit the stone wall with a crash.

"Hell, Rose! Quiet, remember?" he huffed as the three entered the small room.

Really, it was more like a closet. Shelves lined the back of the wall from floor to ceiling and a few metal chests sat on the far right side -far being more or less 4 feet away from the entrance.

"'S here, I know it, I can feel it in here," Rose dropped to her knees, opening the first chest and pulling random things out of it.

The Doctor watched as a watch, a yo-yo, a blue leather jacket, lots and lots of rope, and a Vortex Manipulator fell to the floor one by one. Actually, Rose kept tossing things onto the floor but the Doctor's train of thought locked onto the Manipulator Jack was now picking up.

"Jack! I know that device; I thought I told you no teleport," he growled as Jack strapped it to his right wrist.

"What, this old thing?" Jack laughed as he bent down to collect a few more random things Rose had tossed out onto the floor.

It was then he noticed that she'd moved on to a third chest. Finally, she gave a joyful sob as her precious treasure surfaced from the sea of rubbish within.

Rose sat back on her heels as she pulled what looked like a gold wrist band over her left hand.

"I thought I lost you," she whispered, gazing at the trinket fondly before flicking her wrist and jumping up like nothing ever happened. The Doctor took note of the quiet beep that chimed with her arm movement, but he kept his mouth shut about it. The gold band was obviously more than just eye candy.

"Right then, are we all set to get on with this or do you two plan to keep salvaging through this rubbish all night while the planet melts down?"

Rose glanced at him, unconsciously biting her tongue between her teeth with a slight smirk playing at one side of her face.

"Yes, sir…" she saluted, her voice rather playful and it eerily reminded the Doctor of their early days when they ran into the unknown, hand in hand without a care in the world. He had to force himself to push the memory out of his head…now was not the time!

"So you said these people weren't human?" the Doctor asked as he took the lead this time, using his senses to guide them.

The core of the planet was pulsing with electric energy – why was he only able to sense it now and never before? He also realized that the TARDIS had become very quiet.

Jack glanced at Rose, a serious look on his face.

"There's something you didn't tell me, Rose," he commented as they ran behind the Doctor, taking a left through another doorway.

"Not really," she replied. "I just didn't recognize what they were until recently."

"And you couldn't have mentioned that small detail sooner?"

"'S not like I had much of a choice! We were in the middle of being roasted when the memory came back to me!"

At that statement, the Doctor skid to a stop, Rose and Jack stumbling into him. He rounded on them, clearly stunned by what he'd just heard.

"Roasted? You mean shocked?" He recalled the screams and static shock he'd heard and felt less than an hour before, and a look of horror crossed his face when his brain connected the dots.

"Bloody hell, Jack, you said you placed up barriers!"

"We did…on the people. Didn't have enough to go around-"

"Then how the hell is she still alive?" the Doctor cut in harshly, pointing at Rose but glaring at Jack.

"Excuse me?" Rose coughed, clearly taken aback.

"Seriously, we don't have TIME for this mess, Doctor! We need to GO!"

"My point exactly!" Jack added, shoving the both of them forward.

The Doctor swallowed the sick feeling in his gut at the thought of Rose being electrocuted. Not possible. She would have been killed if she'd been struck!

"You were saying?" the Doctor managed to growl. He was no longer running. They had to be getting close to a control panel up ahead, the sonic was picking up traces of it.

Rose cleared her throat and continued.

"…I didn't recognize them because I've only heard about them in the Parallel Universe. They were so young, a species so new they'd hardly just begun. Well, at least there anyway. Here, they've evolved, grown a bit more."

"You say that as if you've actually met them before," the Doctor accused as the trio stopped at large monitor mounted into the wall beside a set of sealed metal doors.

Rose didn't miss the mistrust hidden in his stare, heavy with sudden suspicion. She really needed to reel in her words a bit.

Sucking air between her teeth in a sort of hiss, she only sank herself further into the pit by murmuring "Sorry but, spoilers…"

Yup, definitely just dug herself a grave. Why the blazes did that pop out of her mouth? River Song had undeniably rubbed off on her! Not good, definitely not good…

The Doctor stood frozen, his hand holding the sonic inches from the monitor screen when a dead, hard expression crossed his features. He recognized that phrase alright, or more precisely, that word, one word; _spoilers_.

"Rose Tyler…" he spoke her name very slowly. "What the hell are you doing to me?"

-  
End Author's Note: Thank you ten_dr_rose for the beta work! Be sure to leave a review! Old or not, I still love reviews on published stories.


	3. Chapter 3

Enjoy chapter three. Thank you so much for your reviews, I love each and every one of them!

Chapter Three

With a sob of pain, Rose grabbed her head and stumbled backwards. The sharp stab in her skull lasted seconds, but it had to have knocked her off her feet because when gravity and reality came back to her, she was held firmly in the Doctor's arms. Maybe she was losing it…was the ground shaking?

Then she heard it, the echoing crackle of electric from somewhere levels above them. Another power surge; the thought alone made her flinch and Rose coiled in on herself, half expecting the tormenting shock to consume her body.

"It's ok, Rose, we're far enough down that it won't touch you, I promise," she heard the Doctor whisper as he held her a little tighter. Her face was buried against his chest, so she missed the meaningful glare directed at Jack as he spoke to her, all previous thoughts about _spoilers_ momentarily forgotten.

Jack cleared his throat when the crackling ceased; that time he was sure it had lasted at least 40 seconds. "The surges are becoming stronger and more frequent…we're running out of time, Doctor."

The Doctor glanced down at Rose in his arms before cautiously letting her go. He tried to keep his expression neutral as he stepped back, but ripping his piercing eyes from her was one hell of a task in and of itself. He had to remind himself that she was okay – if not a sudden agonizing mystery – and he had a job to do.

"Right, let's see what we have here," the Doctor coughed, focusing on the monitor. He scanned the screen, his screwdriver flying through all sorts of files as he effortlessly cracked every code set within the small computer. One thing he loved about computers was the history they always held. No matter how many times you erased file after file, he could always find a way to dig them back up.

"Hold on a minute, why does this suddenly seem so familiar?" The Doctor paused in his scan, rereading a particular file that was now nagging an old memory back to the surface.

"What is it, Doctor?" Rose asked from beside him. It had taken her a couple minutes to get her composure back in line before she had the courage to approach him.

"This planet is infused with a _living_ computer." He replied with a short laugh, staring intently at the screen. He flipped through a few more files as he continued, "I've seen this before, a looong time ago, back when I was young." His voice was filled with wonder at such a find. It reminded Rose of the old days, back when life was simpler and so carefree between them.

"Considering we've been around the Universe one-too-many times, I'll believe anything at this point." Jack commented, still not quite catching on to the Doctor's mumbling.

The Doctor scanned another set of files, thinking out loud as he always did.

"Living computers are rare, not quite sure of their origin, actually. But to support a system this complex would require a host the size of…weeell, a planet! Their function is more or less to recycle and start new life. Oh, this girl is brilliant, just brilliant!"

Rose couldn't hold back the tiny smile at his antics. How she missed it, his infectious smile and vigorous energy when exploring something new and exciting!

"They feed off the dying matter of the host's core and start a whole new world of life from the inside out. It would explain the Central Computer Core, but this one is not as strong as it should be at this age…almost like it's being leeched of its energy source somehow. Probably why I didn't recognize the fact that it was actually a living specimen. This system is quite different from the last one I encountered."

"So, we're in the middle of what, exactly?" Rose asked, trying to follow along as best she could. A _living_ computer was new to her, but not unbelievable. The planet had a host organism growing inside the core in an attempt to start new life. Ok, that was very much believable. But why the meltdown?

"The Core is dying, to put it simply. Not enough energy to sustain this new life, so it's slowly crashing. Looks like it established itself here roughly…a thousand or so years ago, and it's maintained a stable growth rate up until just recently. Question is, why the sudden virus?"

The Doctor pressed deeper into his search but it yielded no further results.

"Right then, looks like we need to get to the _core_ of this mess before we have a global meltdown, eh?" He closed the last file and then scanned the lower left corner of the screen, initiating the unlock sequence to the double metal doors on the left. With an echoing hiss, the doors shook and began to pull apart.

It happened so fast, the Doctor didn't know who or what triggered it, but he suddenly found himself on the ground, flat on his stomach with Rose kneeling over him like a shield. Jack had his handy Compact Laser Deluxe in hand, firing off rounds into the other chamber until several pairs of feet scurried off in the opposite direction. With a curse, Jack turned and helped Rose to her feet before the Doctor scrambled back on his.

"Looks like they're expecting us," Jack huffed, checking his tiny gun and resetting it for another round of fire. He then tried to offer the gun to Rose because he always kept a spare on him, just in case – though he would never admit where that spare was hidden.

The Doctor looked bewildered, glancing from Jack to Rose as the two stared rather intensely at each other. He opened his mouth to demand some answers, but the comment died on his lips as he studied Rose's hard expression. It was almost like a silent war was brewing between the two friends, an age-old argument that was never laid to rest. The Time Lord was rather pleased of the fact that she refused to take the offered gun.

Rose finally broke free of the glare before walking through the metal doors to a body lying on the ground. She recognized the body as a Grethral being, but what really irked her were the _eyes_. They were open, glazed over in death, but clear…not green like she remembered seeing them. Beside the creature was an outdated gun, one she recognized from Torchwood as a Particle Laser Barrel.

Jack and the Doctor watched on in silence as she knelt down beside the body and gently brushed its eyes closed. She reached over and picked the gun up as she stood, her expression hidden in the shadows of the dim chamber. Turning to face the men, she slowly walked back to them, all the while glaring at the gun.

"You should-" Jack was abruptly silenced with a firm hand covering his mouth as Rose bristled at him.

"No. Never have, never will," she hissed at him, removing her trembling hand as she fought to keep control of herself. She had to stay strong, a Torchwood Agent had to walk forward at all costs, inner pain be damned.

"What's this all about?" The Doctor finally asked when the tension became too much. Rose merely gave a humourless laugh before her years of self-training kicked in. Without even thinking about it, she cocked the gun back before twisting a hidden knob, her fingers literally dancing over the weapon in a series of clicks and clanks until the gun crumpled into several small pieces at her feet.

Jack sighed as he scratched his neck in frustration. "Kill shot," he answered, "Rose will never take a kill shot. Give her a gun and she'll disassemble the thing in a minute flat. She saw the Grethrals when the door started to open, knocked you down to shield you from fire, and I did the dirty work. Of all the orders to disobey, Rose will never take a kill shot."

The Doctor watched as Rose circled slowly around the fallen Grethral. On the outside, she seemed calm and collected, but he could see through the mask of it. She was hurting so bad inside…he could see the torment of memories within unshed tears hidden in her eyes. She refused to look at him.

This mysterious woman, his Rose…something was so very wrong with her. Where had she been? What had she done in all this time? It had only been a day for the Doctor…but her soul told a harsh story of pain and anguish, a story of unrelenting _Time_…

"These creatures are being controlled." Rose spoke up, finally meeting the Doctor's gaze. "The eyes are clear now, not green like they were. Somethin's possessing them."

The Doctor approached the body and gave it a quick scan, nodding in agreement. "You're probably right…I had the same suspicions when I first encountered them."

"We have to help them, Doctor, it's not their fault," she whispered, afraid her voice would crack under her failing barriers.

"And we will," he answered, placing a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. He gave her a tiny half-smile, trying to give her some sort of comfort to let her know he was here to help as much as he could.

With that thought in mind, the Doctor squared his shoulders and pressed forward, determined to get to the bottom of this nightmare once and for all. Rose followed just behind to his left with Jack a pace behind her on the right. They marched like that down the twist and turns of corridors and chambers until at last, they found themselves in a very large open cavern lit with hundreds of torches.

The cavern was probably five times the size of the TARDIS's console room. Aside from a large mushroom-like mass of wiring in the very centre of the room, it was empty of any other type of furnishing.

Rose noticed that the walls held floating balconies of the same metal-grated material they were currently standing on and each balcony connected together with a thin strip of ramp, slowly rising higher and higher until it ran out of room to expand. A few random doorways provided entrance to the balcony levels, but it did not connect to the ground level they were on.

While Jack and Rose were inspecting the surroundings, the Doctor was entranced with the mass of wiring before him. With scientific glee, he literally ghosted to the mass, immediately scanning it with his prized sonic screwdriver. He'd found the CCC!

"Awe, this is brilliant, she is!" he beamed, hovering over the living mass. Removing his trusty pair of spectacles from a random pocket, the Doctor settled them on his face and started a network of sonic exams, changing the frequency of the screwdriver as he began to puzzle over the possible problems this dying creature faced. He was so busy with his work that he didn't take note of Rose's presence until she was standing right next to him.

The pounding within Rose's head was starting intensify though she tried to play it off as best she could. She found herself staring at the pulsing mass of wires, almost as if the Core was a beating heart…and maybe it really was. She could literally feel the energy within it, almost as if she were a part of it. And then it dawned on her. _The power surges!_ They were the key to all this. Before she could voice her discovery, the sound of cocking guns rang out from up above and the friends froze in place, letting their eyes wander up above them.

While Jack wasn't very concerned with being shot, he knew the Doctor was very much mortal, even if he was a Time Lord, so he had to really think about his next plan of action. Simply firing off at the enemy would put the Doctor at risk and Rose would surely find a way to kill him off for good if any harm came to the man. Then a thought crossed his mind and he had to crack a smile.

With a sly grin, he called out to Rose who seemed to be having the same idea.

"Hey, Rose!"

"Yes, Jack?" she answered sweetly, slowly stepping away from the pulsing wire core, trying to act as harmless as possible by holding her hands up in surrender. Their actions clearly confused the Doctor, but he remained silent, sensing they had some sort of plan of action.

"Care to dance?" Jack asked this with a slow bow to Rose as he gave her a wink.

"S'pose I' love to, dear Jack, but do try to keep up this time!" she purred, and then with a twist, she spun around and vanished. The Doctor had no time to react.

Milliseconds later, a cry of alarm echoed above and the Doctor jumped as pure panic took over, looking every which way to find his missing Rose. But Rose wasn't the one in distress. When he found her, she was up in the balcony, fingers dancing over a Grethral's gun until it fell into several useless pieces. Jack was busy tying up its owner.

Before the rest of their foes could fire off a round at her, Rose laughed and spun on spot, vanishing mid-swing before reappearing behind another random Grethral.

With speed only gained by rigorous training, she kneed her victim in the groin, grabbed one of his flailing arms and twisted it behind his back as hard as she could before kicking him over the edge of the balcony. Jack was there to semi-catch and secure the Grethral with a wad of rope he magically produced from his coat pocket. The clattering of metal confirmed another disassembled gun.

This time their attackers panicked and began firing at Rose, but she was quick on her feet, flitting in and out of sight like a flickering light until she had the advantage of surprising another creature with a kick to the knee. Every time she managed to drop her enemy, Jack was there to break the fall and tie them up. However long it lasted, the Doctor could only describe it as one thing; dancing. Rose Tyler was literally dancing through space like a ghost, and it was utterly terrifying to watch.

He wasn't sure just how long it lasted, but the twelve Grethrals who'd posed a threat moments before were finally all tied up and Rose blinked back down to ground level, slightly panting as she laughed lightly, a real grin on her face. Jack laughed with her, scooping her up in a hug at their successful plan of counter-attack before he set her down.

"That's my girl!" he crowed before turning to look at their work.

Rose didn't notice the Doctor stalk up from behind until he grabbed her left wrist and spun her around to face him. The shock of it caught her off guard and her instinct was to flee, but when she vanished and reappeared several feet away from where they stood, she realized it had been the Doctor's hand who'd grabbed her – and he was still holding her arm, having been brought through the Vortex with her.

The shock on his face became confusion before melting into something dangerous as memories of old, old times came flooding back to him. Memories of Gallifrey and his people…memories of his granddaughter, Susan.

He glared down at the gold wrist band, suddenly afraid to touch it before hoarsely asking "Where…where did you get this from?"

Rose coiled away from him, pulling her hand free to hug it protectively as she took a step away from the Doctor. She couldn't believe he recognized it…but then again, he was a Time Lord. Nothing escaped his eye when he really focused on it.

"'S not important." She replied a bit too softly as her own memories flooded back in painful waves, but the Doctor wasn't letting up.

"Listen here, Rose Tyler!" he practically yelled, his control starting to waver again. "A day ago I lost everything I held dear to me, again, and then I'm thrust two-thousand years into who-knows-where, to find this bloody mess!" His voice was starting to rise with every word as emotions took hold from within.

"And what do we have here, eh? Captain Jack Harkness and Miss Rose Tyler – who shouldn't even be in this Universe, if I might add – and let's toss in mysterious beings, River Song, and now an _idea_ that's become a reality when the creator _burned_ before she could ever bring it to life!"

It was too much. The echo of a slap so hard across his face made even the Grethrals tremble in their bindings. Tears ran freely from Rose's face as she shook with such fury, but the words she wanted to scream at the Doctor were strangled with a sob. The Doctor had his share of burdens and bleeding scars, but so did she. The difference was that he had the ability to end it all if he so chose to while she had to suffer with it for all eternity. _Always alive…always, always alive!_

As she screamed the thought in her mind, the ground beneath her feet began to shake and the pain in her head doubled, making it suddenly unbearable. She couldn't swallow the cry of pain and her vision blurred for a moment but Jack was quick to catch her. Rose fought to gain her footing - there was something in the back of her mind that she desperately had to tell the Doctor, their differences aside for the moment.

"W-wait! Jus' s-stop!" she stammered, commanding herself to concentrate on the words that didn't want to come out.

Jack steadied her for what seemed to be the millionth time since their arrival on the distressed planet, however long ago that was… One thing was certain though; she had the Doctor's full attention.

Slapped speechless, he was gawking at her like she was a ghost or something. Then his expression shifted and his eyes burned with the need to protect her in her weakened state. At the same time, they held such pain and confusion over the memories that she was stirring within him.

"You said…you told me that the core was dying, sort of like a virus, yeah?" Rose ground out, clutching her head like it would split open at any moment. The Doctor swallowed and gave a nod, still unable to talk.

"Shortly after we got here, the Grethrals flushed us out with bait – they took a hostage and threatened to kill the man if we didn't come quietly. It was almost as if they already knew me...as if they knew how to get inside my head."

"And if you carried a gun and actually took the time to follow my orders, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with," Jack added from behind her.

Rose rounded on him, though she couldn't hide the wince of pain from her movement.

"I don't kill, Jack! I'd rather die than take the life of another!" she spat before giving up and turning back to the Doctor.

"We were caught and locked within the cell you found us in, but they put us in shackles because Jack here decided to fight back once we were in the cell. They shot him and when he stood back up like the walking dead, it really freaked them out. The next day, the first power surge went off. Guess where the surge escapes to?"

Rose, tenderly massaging her temple with both hands, walked over to the mass of wiring, circling it very slowly.

"I'll bet this Core is directly under our cell. From the moment I set foot on this planet, I could feel its energy. 'S like it was in my head, testing and probing for answers to questions I didn't understand. It used me, knowing that I would survive a direct hit. It just…took a few tries to really open my mind up, to forge a channel strong enough between us so that I could call the one person it sought for help."

Rose was now staring at the Doctor.

"It was calling for you. It used me to get to you."

"But that doesn't make any sense, Rose. How would a computer know to find me, the Doctor, out and about through time and space when I've never even been here?" the Doctor asked, pacing around the Core as his mind kicked into fast forward, trying to process the information he had.

"Because there's someone else here….someone who knows you or knew _of_ you. Someone else hiding in the shadows," Rose whispered, getting a chill as the words spilled from her lips. The more she thought about it, the faster her heart began to beat.

It made sense, didn't it? This creature, this living computer could get inside anyone's head, read their thoughts perhaps and gain an understanding of its surroundings to better adapt itself to the environment. What if there was another key player who knew the Doctor, pulling all the strings from the sidelines? The Core was dying and there was no real cause for it…so there was someone else involved poisoning the system!

Clapping and a dark chuckle echoed from above and brought everyone's attention into the balcony. A pale faced man with cropped blond hair and beady brown eyes glared down at them, dressed in a black suit similar to what the Doctor wore –without the pinstripes and overcoat. He looked so familiar, but the Doctor couldn't put a finger on who this man reminded him of.

Rose gasped as her hand flew to her mouth in utter disbelief, the final puzzle piece falling into place. Tears began to flow as hidden grief surfaced and she hardly noticed the Doctor's supporting arms from behind when her knees gave way.

"You bastard!" she cried at the man.

"Well done, Miss Rose Tyler, very well done indeed," the man cooed with a smile as he leaned against the single railing of his perch. "Figured it out, all by yourself!"

-  
Ending Author's note: This chapter has finally been checked for errors thanks to my lovely beta** ten_dr_rose**! Hope you enjoyed chapter three! Love the cliffy ;) You'll find that I love to leave them whenever I can! Reviews make the world go 'round


	4. Chapter 4

A big THANK YOU to **ten_dr_rose** for her lovely beta work, :D

Chapter Four

There was a time in Rose Tyler's life when she wished she never existed. Her heart should have ceased its steady beat so many, many years ago. Yet, the March of Time refused to yield for her, forcing her to walk forward day after day, year after year. Why wouldn't this nightmare go away? Would the pain of it ever heal?

The man laughing above her was enough to give her an answer. No…her heart would never be allowed to heal. She was cursed, after all. Abandonment came with a cost and this was it; eternal heartbreak. _This is all my fault…_

"You know this man, Rose?" the Doctor asked quietly, breaking into her tormented thoughts. His eyes were locked on the enemy and his voice was very dangerous.

Rose covered her mouth with both hands and held her breath for a second, trying to swallow her tears in order to speak.

"…Tony," she choked out, turning back to the Doctor as if she could hide in his protective arms forever.

She let out another sob before whispering, "That..monster… it killed my little brother, Tony. Drained him of life and wore his body like a prize."

The Doctor stiffened at her confession, instinctively holding her a little closer. He never broke eye contact from the young man smiling above, but his mind was thrown into overdrive at the possibilities of what type of creature they faced. His Time Lord senses told him almost nothing. Of all the times to fail him, why now?

"Oh, come now, Rose. Tell the man who I really am! Let's not be so rude, hmm?" the Tony-imposter scolded as he walked a little further down the balcony to the next level.

Rose swallowed the bile rising in her throat at the familiar sound of her brother's voice. Too many memories were flooding back to her, making her nauseous. But when the imposter gave another laugh at her anguish, she found what little courage she had left and shoved her grief aside. Breaking free from the Doctor's shielding embrace, she unleashed the fire burning deep within her soul.

"That monster standing before us is a Vampire, the King Vampire. He's the very bloodsucker you almost killed in E-space during your fourth incarnation hundreds of years ago."

The Doctor gave a humourless snort, his mind reeling with this newfound revelation. Rose was smart enough to know that he wasn't laughing at her. In fact, if this really was the same man she'd loved so many years ago, his mind was processing and working its way into a plan of action.

"Whaaat? Oh, this is, this is…ha! This is unbelievable! You're kidding me! Come on, then, really? _The_ King Vampire? How is that even possible? I ran a scout ship straight through your bloody heart back then! How could you have survived that?"

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair as he walked carefree around the open room, keeping Rose within peripheral vision in case she needed protecting. His mind was spitting out equations and facts, possible solutions and escape plans. At the same time, he was sorting out all the new surprises, trying to work out how the pieces fit together.

The King Vampire growled, clearly not expecting the Doctor's laidback attitude.

"Laughing matter, is it, Doctor? I wouldn't be so cocky considering I've already killed you once before, even if he was just a copy."

When the words hit him, the Doctor felt his hearts freeze as he turned sharply back at Rose who just stood there like a stone statue with her hands fisted so tightly they were turning white. He could see so many emotions ghost across her pale face until she swallowed and glued a hard mask into place. A single tear managed to escape down her cheek as the fire literally vanished from her eyes. She refused to look up at anyone, opting to focus on the grated floor instead.

The Doctor slowly stalked around to glare at the King Vampire, every cell in his body livid.

"You're gonna regret that. No second chances." He hissed in such a dangerous tone that the Vampire took an involuntary step back. But the monster would not be intimidated by the Time Lord who was clearly at a disadvantage. After all, he had the Doctor and his friends stranded on a dying planet and his precious TARDIS was sealed within a barrier on the surface. His foe had no chance of escape.

"You're not in a position to make such casual threats, Doctor. I have your TARDIS after all. While you die a painful death with your friends on this pathetic planet, I'll be long gone with your lovely ship to start a new world order."

It was the Doctor's turn to laugh, but it lacked any form of humour. He started pacing again, never one to sit still for any length of time. His steps were tense and loaded, ready to leap into action if it came down to a physical fight.

"Oh no, my friend, you have it quite wrong," he countered in a low voice. "You see, things haven't exactly gone according to plan for you, have they? The great and almighty King of Vampires, stranded for a thousand years on a planet set to self-destruct at any given moment – how fascinating."

The Doctor peered up at the Vampire, taking in his unsettled features. A deep sadness filled his hearts as he assessed Tony's physical body. Judging by the skin complexity, he guessed that Tony died in his early twenties, maybe even a tad younger. The man had Pete's pale face and thin build but Jackie's lovely, bright eyes and his hair was as blonde as Rose's. You could definitely see the family resemblance of the two siblings.

"Tell me, how did you survive after all these years? I remember flying a scout ship straight through your heart back in E-Space. All your brethren, the Great Vampires, withered and died when you ceased to exist, and yet, here we are again. You and me, stuck back on some bizarre planet out in the middle of the galaxy." The Doctor was still pacing around the room, but he kept close to Rose.

"Simple enough," the King Vampire replied, as he leaned back casually against the stone wall behind him. He was still about four levels from the ground and made no attempts to leave his perch.

"When you pierced my heart, you missed the very centre of it. I cut all blood ties to my people in order to save myself. It took centuries before I had a proper body again, and then decades more to escape from E-space for good. Your timing couldn't have been any more perfect! Ever wonder how you were thrown into a seemingly impossible Parallel Universe? Your TARDIS collided with my ship, knocking us both out of the void and through the crack. Someone forgot to put up their shields!"

"Ah, now that answers a very impossible question! Right then, next topic. You managed to go from E-space to a Parallel Universe, fancy that. But we manage to escape back home, leaving you stranded alone in a world where I do not exist. Spoils your chance at revenge, doesn't it. Revenge against the Time Lords for purging the world of your bloodthirsty race, am I right?"

The Doctor's question was rewarded with a glare, but after a pause, he continued. The next statement was a real struggle to admit aloud, but it had to be said.

"Ah, but then this…_stupid_ Time Lord decided he knew what was best for a very dear friend and a troublesome metacrisis copy without ever asking their opinions…and he dumped them back into the Parallel Universe to live a happily ever after."

The Doctor's sad eyes travelled back to Rose, still unable to get her to look at him. She was currently biting her bottom lip as another tear slid down her cheek.

"And as that brilliant young woman fought to pick up the pieces of a life I destroyed, you took advantage of it and preyed upon her heart!"

This time his voice was harsh and cold, fire flaring within his soul as he circled back around to face his enemy.

"But you weren't satisfied with it all, were you? Hmm? I was still alive out there, somewhere in a different universe, yeah? And when you had your pawn right where you wanted her, someone stepped in and whisked her away to safety. Gone. Vanished out of thin air."

The scowl he earned confirmed the Doctor's suspicions. He'd been guessing at that point, but his mind couldn't think of another alternative as to how Rose got out of the Parallel Universe after the void was forever sealed.

"Awe, but that wouldn't stop you, the King Vampire, now would it? Oh no, not you! You did whatever it was you lot do best and managed to get back here after all – but wait! You're little scheme backfired. Found yourself on this little old red planet instead of Earth. Ha! And when you couldn't find a way out of here, you turned your blood-thirst on the innocent new lives taking seed beneath the surface."

The Doctor felt another pang of sadness as he looked over at the bound Grethrals over by the front entrance. They were strangely quiet, their eerie green eyes watching the scene play out in front of them without a care about their own safety. These creatures were nothing more than puppets on a string, drained of all life and infected with vampirism. The maker pulled the strings and the puppets danced accordingly.  
Walking over to the Grethrals, the Doctor knelt down beside one and ran his sonic screwdriver over it.

"Do you have a name?" he asked, but the creature didn't acknowledge him. He didn't miss Rose shake her head in defeat as she came to terms with his own suspicions.  
"Puppets. That's what you've turned these cell workers into. Your own personal slaves to feed your thirst and do your dirty work. You were watching and controlling them from the sidelines, hidden in the shadows until you were ready to pounce on the real prey."

The Doctor stood back up and resumed his pacing, this time sticking his hands deep into his coat pockets.

"Except, you weren't counting on the Core, were you? Ever meet a living computer? No? Didn't think so. A living computer takes years to grow and adapt to its host planet. In order to survive, it needs the help of worker…bees, yes that's a good way to put it! Bees. You have the Queen bee and her hive of worker bees that are born to help her grow, to protect her and the hive so to speak.

"And do you know what a living computer does when she feels threatened? She reads your very soul, taps into your mind and gets a feel of her enemy. You began picking off and killing her Grethrals, her worker bees, and she got a taste of your mind. And through that, she found me."

Now the Doctor and King Vampire were locked in a staring match. The Doctor was cool and collected, knowing he was driving the nail in right where it counted. The King Vampire was squirming on this inside.

"Because of your plots and twisted ways, she poisoned herself with a virus to bring you down. You made every attempt to slow the virus down until you could hitch a ride out of here, am I right? Using her worker bees – the surviving ones that is – to fight against her self-destruction? Would have worked too, eh? Because, lo and behold, a ship was kind enough to respond to your false distress signal. Ha, but the Queen countered that as well, shot the vessel right out of the sky to keep you grounded, she did!"

The King Vampire shoved off the wall and grabbed at the railing in front of him with a hiss, leaned over the edge as if he were getting ready to jump, but he remained on the balcony.

"Think you're so cleaver, Time Lord? No matter how I came to be here, you're still the one without a ship! The barrier I placed around it will only yield to me, and when this planet burns, I'll be far enough away to watch you burn with it!"

The Doctor only shook his head, still not fazed by the King Vampire's threat.

"Wrong again, old chap, wrong again. You're missing the key to all this. See, when these innocent people crash landed on this planet, the Core knew just how powerfully advanced their technology was. When a courageous little girl – what was her name again…Mae? Anyway, when that little girl sent out her own distress signal, the Core magnified it and pushed it all the way to Earth. Guess who picked it up? Miss Rose Tyler."

The Doctor turned to Rose and gave her a small smile even though she only managed to glance up at him for a split second. He was sure he caught a curious spark in her dead eyes, but maybe he was only imagining it.

"Brilliant woman, she is, absolutely fantastic. Rose read that signal and formulated a plan to get to this planet and save the people stranded here. The Core then used her mind to get to me, calling the TARDIS from within the Time Vortex itself. And here I am! Oh yes, the Core has a plan for me too and guess what?"

The Doctor was now standing right at the heart of pulsing wires armed with his sonic screwdriver.

"Time's up." He spoke the two simple words in a harsh tone before shoving the sonic into the wires and turning the frequency up as high as he could get it.

With a hiss, the King Vampire leapt off the balcony and lunged at Rose. He wasn't about to let the Doctor slip through his fingers now and he knew Rose was his weakness. But Rose was faster, grabbing Jack's wrist behind her and vanishing on spot before bursting back into sight behind the Doctor. When their enemy leapt at them for another attack, the Core pulsed to life.

Electrical sparks flared up from the mushroom of wires as thick steel cables separated from the mass. Eight live wires shot out and surrounded the King Vampire, forming a cage around him as he screamed out a string of curses. The Doctor, Rose, and Jack stood back as a massive power surge engulfed the King Vampire. But the power surge didn't stop there. Within seconds, it spread to the Core, consuming itself in total self-destruction.

Rose snapped into action, knowing the whole planet was doomed to explode with such energy. She grabbed both the Doctor and Jack and focused her mind on one place. With the picture firmly set in her mind, she dragged her friends into the Vortex and they winked out of the room.

A millisecond later, they were standing in a chaotic prison chamber, everyone screaming and crying for help as the ground beneath their feet shook. The power surge was in full swing, engulfing the empty cell the trio had occupied a couple hours ago.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor bellowed above the deafening noise of screams and static shock. The amount of charged energy was starting to wear on his body and he wasn't sure how much more of it he could take. Jack was handling it just about as poorly as he was and Rose…wait a second, where was Rose?

"Rose!" he called out, spinning around but still not able to find her.

"Doctor! Help me get these cells open!" Jack cried, oblivious to Rose's absence. He whipped out his little laser gun and shot at the lock he was fighting to open and it clattered to the floor.

The Doctor swore to himself as he stumbled to another cage and soniced the lock. He turned to get the next one when Rose finally flashed into the room.

"That monster set up one hell of a barrier around the TARDIS, Doctor, she's not able to break out of it!" she yelled over the painful noise. She felt so nauseous and dizzy from the pounding in her head, but the adrenalin in her veins refused to give in to the blackness that threatened to claim her mind.

The Doctor soniced the last lock and then rushed back over the Rose and Jack.

"No way to break it down?" Jack asked, staring at all the terrified people hugging each other in their unlocked cells. It was obvious they believed they were all going to die. Unlocking the cells also meant they were exposed to the electric shocks, but they didn't show any signs of pain…oddly enough.

"I was able to jump inside the TARDIS, but she couldn't even get off the ground because there's a force field set around her, lockin' her in place. It also kept us from sensing her, isn't that right, Doctor? Can you hear her calling?" Rose asked, her voice almost lost to the sound of grated metal crashing from somewhere above them in a different part of the room.

At her question, the Doctor realized she was right. The TARDIS had been very quiet ever since he'd been captured and thrown into the cell with Rose and Jack. Not a peep out of her… When he looked at Rose to answer her, the tears in her eyes erased all previous thoughts from his mind.

"But I can help free her… 'M sorry, Doctor…" she murmured for his ears alone, taking a step back from him as a silent decision settled in her mind. Panicking at the tone of her voice, the Doctor made a grab for her, to stop her from whatever plan she had set in mind.

"Whatever it is you're about to do, don't do it, Rose!" the Doctor hissed out of desperation, his instincts on the edge.

"'S the only way, Doctor…let me go. I have to do this." She was crying, but determined to save his life. She saw no other way out of it and when she thought about the pain to come, her body shuddered against her will.

When the Doctor refused to let her go, Rose did the one thing she could think of to free herself from him. She kissed him.

Time froze for that one moment, and she wished it would just last for all of eternity. The Doctor was stunned, but hardly refused her kiss, melting into it like his life depending on the act itself. But Rose had a job to do, and she braced both hands against his chest and shoved back as hard as she could to throw him away from her before she vanished.

The scream that resounded through the chamber was gut wrenching.

"NO, ROSE!" but the Doctor wasn't able to lunge for their cell because Jack had tackled him from behind. He struggled against Jack's strong arms, fighting to save Rose from the power surge she'd just thrown herself into. But then the song of an ancient time ship filled the chaotic room and the TARDIS materialized before them.

The ship sang a command to enter, the doors quick to fly open.

"Everyone into the TARDIS, NOW!" Jack yelled, shoving the Doctor inside as the rest of the people ran from their cells and into the strange blue box.

When the Doctor fought against Jack, cursing him and calling out for Rose, Jack wrestled him to the ground.

"Don, help me! Hold this man, don't let him free unless you truly want to die!" he yelled out when he spotted the man in red.

Don and a few other hands reached out to restrain the Doctor as Jack ran back to the door, guiding people into the TARDIS as fast as possible. When the last person was in the door, he ran out to get Rose.

But Rose was still caught in the surge, and he knew that if he touched her, he'd be locked there as well.

"Rose! Rose, let go of it! We're safe, we've got everyone on board!" he yelled.

"I can't!" Rose ground out. Her mind was on fire, but her body was so very numb. The physical pain was gone. But her friends weren't out of this mess yet, and she still had to get them to safety.

"Get back into the TARDIS, Jack! Now!"

Jack looked like he was going to hesitate, but he took a step back, knowing it was a pointless fight. He fell back on Torchwood training when emotions became complicated, knowing what his priorities had to be in the end.

"Listen to me, Rose. It doesn't have to end like this! When you can't take it anymore…when it becomes too much to bear…._JUMP_."

With those final words, he ran back to the TARDIS and the doors slammed shut behind him.

Rose took the words to heart, but she pushed them aside, calling for the TARDIS to heed her commands. She dipped into the telepathic channel that the surge opened within her mind and gave the ship coordinates to the Time Vortex. Had someone been watching her, they would have seen the golden glow of her eyes as she took mental control over the vessel, guiding the TARDIS to safety. With a steady hum, the ship dematerialized. The TARDIS was safe.

And then Rose screamed. No longer was the pain numb. Her body was on fire, her mind howling in paralyzing electric shock. She felt the full force of electrocution engulf her very being and she waited for death, begged for it. But the blackness refused to come this time, refused to pull her under to take the pain away. So many images of old memories tore through her mind and she couldn't focus on a single one. This was it, she was going to lose her mind and every precious memory with it…this had to be Hell.

Faintly, ever so faintly, a song began to play within Rose's mind as she burned from the inside out. The sweet sound slowly pulled at her consciousness, muffling her screams, caressing her soul until the images within her mind stilled long enough for her form one simple picture in her head. She clutched the image of the TARDIS console room, focused on the masses of people milling about the cramped room, and with one final ragged breath…she jumped.

-  
End Author's note: Reviews? Yes?


	5. Chapter 5

Emerald green eyes peered around the crowded hull of the TARDIS. The room was overly packed and the chatter was enough to hurt the sensitive ears of a little girl with tight black curls. Mae stood pressed against the comforting walls of the ship, hugging herself tightly inside her oversized blue jumper. She studied each frantic face, listening to the nervous murmurs of her frightened people. They were whispering about the crazy man currently restrained by several strong pairs of arms on the floor but she wasn't able to see him through the crowd.

The Doctor's string of profanities and curses were muffled by the bodies milling around the ship but Mae could _feel_ the anguish pouring from the man's hearts. It startled the young girl that she automatically knew he had two hearts, not just one…and then she remembered just how powerful her empathic abilities happened to be. She knew her senses tripled in strength when compared to any other person in the room. Still, she was very disappointed in her people. Were they so blind to their senses to not feel this man's emotional pain? Any empath with such basic skills should be able to feel _that_ amount of agony radiating from within him.

Mae wasn't sure how long she'd been mulling over her troubled thoughts, but when a strong wave of bitter hopeless hit her, she gasped and leapt away from the wall as if she'd been bitten. This man needed her help. If her people would do nothing, then it was up to her to bring them to order and save this man's life. She knew deep down that he was dying inside…he would give up on life if she didn't spring into action.

Weaving through a sea of legs, Mae fought her way around the console room until she found a group of men circling a figure she couldn't see. When she approached the group, she extended her sixth sense, demanding the men to part away from the Doctor who was sobbing in a heap at their feet. She hid a smirk as the five men literally jumped back, startled at the raw power thrown at their senses, clearly not expecting it. It was even funnier to see the confusion on their faces because they didn't recognize her mental touch, meaning they thought such power had emanated from the Doctor himself.

When Mae pushed passed the men to stand at the Doctor's crumbled form, all eyes fell on her and a sudden hush settled within the TARDIS. Bending down, she placed one small hand against the bitter man's cheek and gently coaxed him to look at her.

"Forgive them, Doctor," Mae spoke softly, her voice small and kind.

"We are a people of fear, and with that fear comes blindness. But I will not be so petty and follow in their footsteps. Let me help you…"

For someone so young, Mae's simple words put her people to shame for their actions. Empaths, as they called themselves, were always meant to help others in distress, and yet it took a mere child to bring them to terms with the error of their ways. But Mae wasn't just an ordinary child. Her blood ran deeper than anyone else within her race, tracing back to the founding fathers of their long-dead planet.

The Doctor was too far broken to form a meager reply to Mae's request. All he could do was nod, his numb body moving mechanically as Mae held her hand to his cheek and slowly stepped back, drawing him forward until he was forced to kneel and then stand. At this point, she took his hand and, as her people parted way for them, she led him to the TARDIS's humming control panel.

"Tell me, what do you see?" Mae asked when they paused at the console. She set her free hand against the machine and her eyes glazed over, her senses expanding to explore her surroundings like a spider weaving an intricate web. And as that web expanded, it snared the mental signatures of every empath within the room, linking every mind to strengthen the frequency a hundred times over.

The Doctor gasped in shock when he blinked. No longer was he staring hopelessly at his TARDIS console. His vision and mind were completely tangled within the very essence of such strange people aboard his ship. Emotions of sorrow and guilt consumed him and he realized that they were not his emotions, but theirs; they were sharing their hearts with him, asking for his forgiveness.

_Let us help you_, they seemed to say in unison, and a very soft song began to echo within his soul. And then they were singing, oh they were singing! The most ancient and primitive melody he had ever heard, had ever felt, consumed him and the Doctor was brought to his knees with the sheer power of it.

That's when he heard it, a voice so frantic and weak, but very much alive and real. Rose, his beautiful Rose was calling out for help, begging for a connection to free herself of the pain. So much pain! Without hesitation, the Doctor mentally reached out to her, fought to make that bridge between them to bring her back, to save her from such torment.

And then Rose quite literally fell into the room at his feet, reality crashing back into chaos as the Doctor's senses snapped out of its trans-like state. People were stumbling backwards, clearing a path for the woman screaming in utter agony on the floor, gripping her head between her hands as if her mind were burning from the inside out.

"Rose!" The Doctor flew to her side and scooped her up with strength he never knew he had. He'd had a taste of the fire burning inside her head when the bridge was forged and he knew he was racing against time itself to stop it before she was lost forever. This was nothing like Bad Wolf and not even close to Donna's overload after the meta-crisis regeneration.

People leapt out of his way as the Doctor rushed down the corridor, heading straight for the medical bay where anything and everything he needed would be at hand.

"Jack! I need you!" he bellowed, literally kicking the door down when he reached his destination.

Jack was two steps ahead of him, already in the ward with a bed set up waiting for Rose and readied equipment he'd guessed might be needed. Later on, the Doctor would have to ask how Jack had been prepared for this, but that was a question that could wait.

When the Doctor tried to angle Rose onto the bed, Jack had to help pry her off of the Time Lord and restrain her hands and feet with soft rope tethered to the bed. Her screaming persisted and she fought against her restraints, oblivious to her surrounds or either of her friends. Her mind was in such chaos that at first, Jack wasn't sure if it was already too late. But the Doctor would never give up on Rose and he held on firmly to that belief.

"What do you need, Doctor?" Jack asked as his frantic friend grabbed at wires and tape, hooking up random machines to different parts of Rose's body. He recognized a monitor that read vital stats like blood pressure and temperature but the rest was lost to him.

"I need a tranquilizer, sedative, anything! Something to calm her down, now! Look in the third cabinet above the sink, top shelf on the right" The Doctor barked as he finished his wiring and hit a couple buttons on the machine he'd been working on.

When Jack returned with a needle filled with liquid, the Doctor was again ripping apart wires and plugging in more random machines with speed that only a Time Lord could possess.

Jack watched the man leap across the medical bay to random cabinets, grabbing at supplies like small metal clamps, a couple vials of liquid, a few coils of blue and green wire. He rushed back to the table setup beside Rose's bed and dumped it all in a heap, spinning around to grab the needle from Jack.

"Hold her arm still, Jack!" the Doctor ordered, before fishing out his sonic screw driver and clamping it between his teeth.

Jack did as he was told and the Doctor readied the needle for injection, taking the sonic to scan it over Rose's arm until he found a suitable blood vessel.

"This is gonna pinch a bit, Rose, but it'll be ok, I promise," he murmured over her sobs and then he inserted the needle.

Rose didn't seem to notice, her mind was already far too gone from the pain to comprehend her surroundings. The drug in her system went to work, slowly shutting down the nerve endings that drove her body to hell from the burning within her head. She'd been begging for the blackness to consume her, to take it all away, and finally it was coming.

As Rose's body went limp, Jack heaved a sigh of relief but the Doctor was still at his manic pace, flying around the room in desperation at he fought against time to save the one person he had left in his life.

"What's wrong with her? She going to be ok?" Jack asked, now feeling a bit in the way as his friend pushed him aside to attach a suction cup to Rose's temple.

"You remember Bad Wolf, yes?" the Doctor replied, never breaking from his work. He was sonicing another set of wires together before grabbing for one of the vials of liquid from the table.

"Yeah, I remember that. You regenerated because of it to save Rose from burning."

"Exactly. Imagine all of Time and Space crammed into a fragile human brain. And then add a living computer's telepathic field to magnify that power by tenfold."

"You're not making sense, Doctor. Dumb it down a bit, will ya?" Jack commented as the Doctor took a second to drink the clear liquid inside the glass vial he'd cracked open against the table.

"That computer used Rose's mind to open a channel between her and the TARDIS," the Doctor explained, again hurriedly cutting wires and sonicing odd pieces together. The more he spoke, the faster he worked as if the conversation stimulated his fingers.

"It gave Rose the ability to shatter the barrier around the TARDIS and get us into the Time Vortex, but it came with a cost. This isn't the first time it's happened to Rose and this last surge was just too much for her. When the TARDIS went bloody bad on me and overrode the controls, I thought my ship was sick or suffering from some crazy malfunction. Now I know different. The TARDIS picked up Rose's first telepathic broadcast and tracked her down there. Or rather, Rose called the TARDIS herself."

Now the Doctor was working on a machine he'd dragged over by Rose's head, running the prepped wires into the machine.

"Every time Rose took a direct hit from a power surge, the computer was working to strengthen her telepathic abilities because it knew that in order to save everyone on that planet, it would need Rose's mind at its full potential. Mind control is a tricky thing, and very dangerous. But the probability of her surviving it alone was slim. And that's where I came in. The Core didn't need me to bring the King Vampire down…it needed me to save Rose."

"So what your saying is, this living computer basically used us all to kill a Vampire?"

"Indeed, she did. But she did what she was programmed to do in the very end. She fought to save life. Trapping those people on the planet meant she had to find a way to get them off it. She used the two of you to make that possible, and she used me because I had the TARDIS…and I was also Rose's best bet for survival."

The Doctor finished wiring his latest machine and began taping sensory pads to his own temple. Jack saw that Rose had about eight different pads, tape, and suction cups attached from her temple to her chest while the Doctor had two on either side of his head. It would have been comical to see him like that if the circumstances had been a lot different.

"So what are you going to do now? What can I do to help?" Jack asked, looking between the Doctor and Rose. He noticed that even though Rose was sedated just a couple minutes ago, she was starting to stir.

"I'm going to step into her mind. The channel opened within her hasn't been shut and she's burning inside. Even the drugs can't keep it contained; they only bought me a few spare moments to get this thing rigged for a telepathic lock. I have to find the gap in the channel and close it before it's too late. Rose's physical body may not die…but her mind will. She'll be nothing more than an empty shell! And as for helping…shut up and keep everyone else outta here."

Jack gave him a firm salute, but the concern was still evident on his face.

"I'll do my part. Never doubted you, Doctor…just do what you do best; save Rose."

Rose finally came to, crying out at the surging fire building back up inside her head. The Doctor bent over her, placing the palms of his hands on either side of her temple to still her and focus her attention.

"Look at me, Rose, it's ok. Can you hear me? If you can hear me, look at me! It'll be alright, Rose, I promise." To his relief, she locked her eyes with his, but then she fought against the restrains on her wrists and ankles.

"Rose, you've gotta calm down! Focus, Rose I know you can do this!" She winced and fought her bindings harder, panicking as the pain increased inside her.

"Listen to me, Rose, I know you can hear me. Let me help you, let me take the pain away from you. I can stop the fire, I can make it go away!"

As he spoke, the Doctor focused his mind on Rose, mentally probing for access into her head. At his touch, a barrier was thrown up, almost like a door slamming in his face. Rose didn't want him in her mind. He could sense her fear, her resistance to such invasion of her private memories and thoughts but if he was going to save her, she was going to have to let him in.

"Now you listen to me, Rose Tyler, and you listen well," his voice was raw with unspoken emotions because he felt so guilty for what he was about to do. Call him selfish, but he would do anything to save the woman beneath him, even if he had to force his way into her mind to stop the raging fire inside.

"I have no right to intrude upon your memories, but you have to let me in! If you lock me out, I can't stop it, I can't save you from the fire. I've lost you one-to-many times to let you slip away from me now! I have no one to live for, damn it, so don't you dare leave me alone to die!"

He never intended to let the last line slip out, but he was so desperate to save her that he'd admit anything at this point.

"Let me in, Rose, let me help you…_please_!" his voice cracked and tears began sliding down his face of their own accord.

Rose wasn't sure what broke her heart in the end, whether it was his words or his tears, but when she felt the light shower of salt water on her face, something inside her soul cracked.

"It hurts," she whimpered, fighting against her restraints, but no longer fighting to get away from the Doctor like before.

"My mind…hurts so much…"

The Doctor shushed her, stroking her face with one hand as he tested the barrier she'd thrown up in self-defense moments before.

"And I'll make it better, Rose, I promise. Just let me in, please. Let me help you… You can trust me," he whispered, settling his palms back on either side of her head.

Rose would have nodded, but the pain was just too much to bear. Weak and exhausted, she answered him by giving in, slowly releasing her grip on the barrier she'd hid behind for so long. She prayed the Time Lord would forgive her for such weakness, knowing that what he'd see would hurt him deeply in the end.

_Doctor…I'm so sorry_, she thought, using his own words of apology.

-

Jack stepped back as the Doctor took the plunge into the unknown of Rose's chaotic mind. He knew the second she'd yielded to the Time Lord's will when her body stilled and slipped into a restfulness he hadn't seen in…years.

To be honest, Jack couldn't remember the last time Rose had really, truly slept. Maybe this couldn't be classified as sleeping, but she seemed to be peacefully unconscious. He watched as the Doctor concentrated on his work, the machinery behind the pair of them glowing and clicked away as it monitored and worked its magic. He wasn't sure exactly which machine did what function, but he trusted the Doctor knew what he was doing.

So when the oh-so-magnificent Time Lord collapsed on the bed — and on top of Rose of all people - Jack cursed and ran out the med bay door for help.

It took four strong men to gather the Doctor off of Rose and maneuver him onto another wheeled cot beside her. Jack double-checked all the wiring and tapes to reassure himself that nothing else had been disconnected. After a pause he even took the liberty of placing the Doctor's hand in Rose's. Somehow it didn't seem right without that small touch between them.

"A lot heavier than he looks!" Jack said with mild humor to ease his own worries about the Doctor and Rose.

With both his friends secure and, well, unconscious, Jack ushered the other three men out of the med bay. He hesitated at the door, not sure if he should stay or leave them alone in peace. In the end though, he stepped out and shut the door with a sigh, knowing that if anyone could do the impossible, it would always be the Doctor and Rose, hand in hand, as it always should be.

-  
End Author's Note: This was originally 12 pages long...but I cut in half to make two chapters. And now that I'm wrapping up chapter 6 on Microsoft word, looks like there will still be a 10-12 page chapter out of it so...oh well. :) Reviews very much appreciated. This chapter was another rough one to spit out. Still not completely satisfied with it, but oh well :P


	6. Chapter 6

To all my reviewers, THANK YOU :) Reading reviews really make my night. Chapter 6 is now split into two separate chapters. I know I said that for chapter 5 as well, but...now that applies to 6 as well. Chapter 7 is more like "part B" of chapter 6 but I'm going to keep it as chapter 7 anyway. It was just way too long. This chapter is short, but if you add in chapter 7, that makes a 12 page set. Happy reading :) I do hope it flows together smoothly...

Chapter 6  
-

"Right then, Rose Tyler, you tell me. Where do you wanna go, backwards or forwards in time?"

The Doctor found himself suspended in a void of blackness as a voice spoke out, echoing from all around him. He recognized his ninth self's heavy northern accent, a sound that Rose clung to in fear she'd one day forget it completely.

Clips of conversations ghosted dully around the Time Lord as the memory of their first real adventure together played itself out. The alien banter she recalled was not as important and didn't have any form to them; just whispers floating the blackness.

"You think it'll last forever. People and cars and concrete, but it won't…and then one day it's all gone, even the sky."

A haze of color filtered into view around the Doctor and he found himself looking at his ninth incarnation standing in the middle of a busy street in London. He was watching the world from Rose's perspective because it was her memory of the old him. He felt a mixture of fear, confusion, and sadness, but he knew the feelings were hers and only associated with the memory he was currently watching.

"My planet's gone… its dead. It burned like the Earth…it's just rocks and dust…before it's time."

"What happened?" Rose's voice asked gently. Her feelings shifted to sorrow at his loss and an irrational concern for his well being.

"There was a war and we lost."

"A war with who?" She cleared her throat and tried again. "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord, the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left traveling on my own 'cause there's no one else."

"There's me…" Rose offered, a bit startled to have so willingly said it aloud. She knew nothing of this strange man, and yet…

"You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" He was giving her a way out, a chance to take back what she'd said and for a moment, she hesitated.

"I dunno…I want…" The thought of leaving him suddenly made her feel sick inside. This man, this daft little alien was alone and suffering inside. Probably more than a little suicidal as well… She couldn't possibly go back!

"Oooh…can you smell chips?" It was the perfect distraction to avoid answering his question directly.

When the Doctor smiled and laughed "yeah…yeah," she felt her heart flip and she clung to the moment, stating, "I want chips."

"Me too," he laughed, seeming to accept her distraction as a mutual agreement to stay with him for the time being.

"Alright then, before you get me back in that box, chips it is and you can pay."

The busy street suddenly dissolved and it was replaced by flashes of familiar faces and snippets of chatter from some of the people and aliens they'd met along the way. With those brief memories came the overwhelming emotions of fear, worry, sorrow, longing, love…and heartbreak; heartbreak at Canary Wharf when she'd been trapped in the Parallel Universe…

This time, the scene around the Doctor became more refined. He was no longer looking through the eyes of Rose Tyler herself, but rather as a bystander. His Dimensional Dream Converter was finally honed in on Rose's brain waves, allowing him to view the memories outside of her perspective.  
Now he watched as Rose cried out against their forced separation.

"Take me back, take me back! …Take…me…back!" It tore his hearts to watch her, dressed in blue, as she beat furiously at the white wall, sobbing hopelessly because she'd lost him. And then just as quickly the scene vanished and was replaced by a beach.

The Doctor glanced around, recognizing the beach as Bad Wolf Bay in the Parallel Universe. After all, he had only been there just over a day ago. A few feet away from him, the TARDIS stood tall and proud as she always did, but then he watched as Rose kissed him human copy and a pang of sadness overwhelmed him. He'd only just witnessed that act way too recently. Only, this time he couldn't turn back to his ship and leave the two of them to their happy ending.

The Doctor was forced to watch as Rose broke away from her kiss and ran towards the TARDIS as it dematerialized for the last time. The human Doctor slowly walked up beside her and took her hand. For several moments, they just stood there like that. And then Rose dropped her to knees and cried.

The beach then molded into walls of a very large bedroom. It was dark and dreary with the only light coming from a small lamp glowing on a bedside table. Rose was sitting on the bed with a washcloth in hand, gently mopping the head of a man who clearly wasn't well. The man moaned and Rose hushed him, tenderly brushing back his damp hair as she tried to stifle her anxiety over his wellbeing. The Doctor realized that it was his human copy and he was suffering from the after-effects of his regeneration.

Suddenly, a blinding golden light bled through the wall above Rose and the sick man as a large, golden wolf stepped out into the room. The real Doctor was thrown out of the room and into a void of white nothingness as the snarling wolf towered over him. It took him a second to scramble to his feet because he'd been caught by surprise.

"Blimey, hello there…" the Doctor murmured, completely transfixed at the sure beauty of the giant beast.

"You will leave," the wolf growled in a deep, booming voice that was neither his nor Rose's.

"I'm sorry, what?" the Doctor asked, confused. Wasn't he still in Rose's mind? It wasn't as if this creature could hurt him…but he felt rather intimidated by the hostile wolf.

"You will leave," the wolf repeated, snapping at the air to reinforce its demand.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. If I may ask…what exactly are you?"

The wolf regarded him with furious eyes and began circling around the Doctor as it debated its next course of action.

"I am all that ever could be. I am what was lost and what was gained. I am the nightmare in the shadows and the whisper in the wind."

"Interesting…" the Doctor mumbled to himself as he eyed the circling beast with caution. Was this the source he was looking for? The channel he needed to close? But he wasn't getting any sort of mental energy from the wolf. If it was somehow connected…

"You will leave," the wolf again commanded, this time a little harsher.

"And if I don't?" the Doctor tested, now taking a step toward the wolf and causing it to take a step backwards, but it repositioned itself to lunge at him.

"Rose is mine!" the wolf howled and sprang into the air. As its golden teeth sank into the Time Lord, the world around him went black.

End Author's note: Chapter 7 awaits! Easy to read and visualize, yeah? ._.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, here's the second part of the extended chapter. This was a bugger to get out smoothly...hope if goes without a hitch! Enjoy the read while my fingers and eyeballs recuperate!

Chapter 7

Silence roared within his ears as the Doctor slowly regained consciousness. Rubbing furiously at his eyes, he blinked away the fuzziness to reveal a rather spacious flat. He realized that he was in the foyer and behind him lay a rather simple living room and beyond that, an open kitchen. As his senses adjusted, the trickle of rain could be heard pattering against the front door and judging by the lack of light from the window, it was in the middle of the night.

The Doctor took in his surroundings, wondering just where on earth he really was and how he'd managed to get here. In fact, now that he thought about it, did he just wake up…standing? Quite odd, that. He noticed the tan walls around him were bare. Was this place even occupied? Oh wait, boxes. A small pile of boxes sat at the end of the hall, just under the archway that led to the living room. New occupants.

Just as he was about to explore the flat a bit more, a rather harsh rapping sounded at the front door. He heard a door slam shut from somewhere up above, followed by muffled footsteps as someone descended the stairs hidden out of sight.

"Just a minute!"

The Doctor's hearts leapt at the sudden sound of Rose's voice. Before he had time to think, Rose rounded the corner and walked right _through_ him.

_What? What? Did she just…_? And then it donned on him. The TARDIS, the dead planet, a living computer, the empaths…and then Rose's burning mind. He was in her memories! And then he recalled the golden wolf. What had it done to him and where was it now? All this processed through his head in less a second, but he had no time to mull over the situation because Rose had opened the front door.

Rose was dressed in a deep blue satin dressing robe, clearly rushed out of bed at the insistent pounding on her front door. She looked the same…not a single hint of aging touched her otherwise tired face.

"Yes, can I help you?" Rose asked as she peered out the door.  
The man outside ducked his head apologetically. He was wearing a white lab coat, clearly having rushed from his place of work straight to the Tyler residence. He held a blue umbrella tightly between both hands and his expression was that of grief and guilt. Rose obviously didn't know the man, but she did recognize his work badge.

"Oh, can't we just get a bit of rest? We're in the middle of moving into this place and it's our night off! This had better be an emergency, or Dad's gonna hear it from me! Torchwood's not-"

She stopped when the man choked back a sob, and annoyance was replaced with sudden concern.

"What is it? What's happened, what's wrong?" Rose took a step out of the door, where she was still shielded from the rain.

"Rose? Who is it, Rose?"

Rose turned back see a man coming to join her at the front door as he adjusted the collar of his wrinkled brown shirt. The Doctor recognized his half-human meta-crisis self sliding in behind her, gently pulling her back against him as the pair confronted the strange house call.

"Timothy Barnes? What are you doing here? Is there a problem with the Cannon?" the human Doctor asked, glancing back at Rose in puzzlement.

"N-no, sir, not the Cannon. I was sent by… Oh, I'm very sorry, Miss Tyler, truly I am. There was an accident, and…"

Rose visibly stiffened and her breathing hitched at the word _accident._

"Mum and Dad! Where are they, are they alright?" She pulled away from the human Doctor in shock but could only take two steps forward, clearly panicking.

The man in white shook his head and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry, miss, the car went up in flames. There was nothing anyone could do!"

"No, no…they can't be, I just talked with Mum a couple hours before bed! This is…this is some sorta sick joke, isn't it?" Rose yelled, ready to slap the man in front of her.

Her human Doctor, stricken in shock, snapped out of it to pull her back against him. "Tim, go back to Torchwood and call for Emergency Program Seven. Tell 'em I'll be there soon as I can," he instructed and then guided Rose back into the flat, shutting the door.

As Rose crumbled into her Doctor's supportive arms, they melted into the blackness of Rose's mind. The real Doctor was left standing there helplessly as Rose's echoing sobs vibrated through his hearts. And then quite suddenly, he was thrust into blinding white light. He blinked back several times until his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight.

The Doctor turned a full circle as he realized that he was now standing by a window inside a spacious office, several stories up. Before he had time to really look around, his eyes fell on Rose who was bent over a large, cherry-colored work desk. She had her eyes glued to a computer screen with one elbow propped on the desk, her chin resting in her open palm.

Again, the Doctor noticed how Rose looked not a day older from when he'd left her on Bad Wolf Bay. Now she wore a familiar denim jacket with a pink colored vest and as he studied her face, extreme exhaustion was apparent in her sad eyes.

Rose groaned lightly to herself, pushing away from the computer in agitation. "Accident my arse!" she hissed, standing up to walk to the window.

Even though the Doctor knew she'd just walk through his invisible image, he stepped out of her way. He watched Rose hug herself as she peered hopelessly out the window. Then she made a funny face and her hand slipped down to her stomach. She looked confused, and then rather sick as if she were going lose her lunch. But the moment passed, the sickness fading from her face.

From that point, the memory blurred and sped forward but the Doctor caught odd glimpses of Rose holding her stomach and looking a bit sick as time progressed. It made an unsettling question come to mind, but the Doctor tried to tamper it down. Rose couldn't have been…could she?

He didn't have time to prepare for the next set of memories because a few hundred images engulfed him at lightning speed. They looked more like a slide-show, mostly of Rose and her human Doctor in various places doing really domestic things like shopping, dining, dancing…

Then the pictures were replaced by clips of certain memories that he would have rather avoided but couldn't help but gawk at; Rose in the shower, naked and lustful as his human copy peppered her with soft kisses; Rose against the wall in a bedroom, clinging to her lover in passionate lovemaking; Rose on the bed, bare against the sheets with her hair fanned out around her head and shoulders. It was gut-wrenching to hear her moans and gasps as she gripped the sheets beneath her fingers with every thrust her lover made.

Jealousy wasn't an emotion the Doctor was used to fighting, but the taste of it was bitter and he tried to swallow it the best he could. Thankfully, the memories moved on to less private ones.

Tony was in most of these, starting from his birth to the age of thirteen as the Tyler tot grew into a smiling young teen. And then from age thirteen, Tony's images jumped to the age of nineteen and his face was no longer smiling. The Doctor realized that this had to be after his death, it couldn't have been her living brother…his eyes looked so cold. Why the long age gap in her memories? What had happened to him from the age of thirteen to his apparent death? Or more importantly, where had Rose been?

As these questions surfaced, the pictures around the Doctor swirled into a sea of color until the mist settled into a new memory. He was standing in a street and people were screaming, running away from something unseen. As the Doctor swung around to face the crowd, three gun shots rang out, followed by a scream.

"Rose!" The Doctor twisted around, pointlessly calling for her because he'd recognize the scream as hers. And then he saw her, terror evident on her face as she pushed and shoved her way against the crowd, calling out his name.

He would have rushed to assure her that he was ok, but she dropped to her knees just a few feet away and he realized it wasn't actually him that she'd been yelling for. Lying on the ground was his human copy…and he was dying.

"Doctor, it's gonna be ok!" Rose cried, ripping open the man's bloodied coat and vest before applying pressure to his wounds.

This memory was clipped, blurring and refocusing on the parts that stood out the most, almost as if she didn't want to remember it at all but couldn't let go of it at the same time.

"…Rose," the man choked out, but she shushed him, shaking her head in denial.

"No! You can't leave me! Not now, not ever! You promised, remember? You can't…you can't!" she sobbed, but she wasn't yelling at him. Again the image blurred and focused.

"…Rose…I…I don't wanna go, Rose, I don't…" the human Doctor panted heavily through his sobs, struggling to keep his breath.

"Then don't! Don't leave me, please don't go. I can't be alone, I can't do this alone! I won't live without you…" Tears were flowing in a steady stream down her cheeks as her hands traced the sides of his face, her head only a few inches from his.

"I'm sorry, Rose…so sorry…" He winced and groaned as his body shuttered from the shock. He was losing the battle. "…but you have…something to live for…" he forced out in a whisper, finding the strength to reach out and cup her face.

"You have someone to live for…" he half-cried and half-laughed at the sorrow his words brought him. His free hand rested against Rose's stomach and she shook her head, refusing to admit that he was dying.

"Not without you! I can't do it without you, Doctor!"

The man hissed, sucking in as much air as he could to spit out exactly what he wanted to say to her before his heart gave out. "…you can and y-you will, Rose Tyler! Promise me…promise me, please!"

But Rose refused to give him the answer he so desperately wanted, crying even harder.

"Look at me, Rose," he commanded between pants. "_Find him_, Rose…if it's the last thing you do…_find him_…and tell him..."

The real Doctor stood motionless, his face hard and hearts heavy as he watched his copy slowly slip away in death, his words unfinished. The image began to fade, but Rose's crying reverberated through the darkness like a tortured soul. It was a sound that he would never forget…and one that would surely haunt his dreams.

He wasn't sure when he'd started crying, but he furiously wiped stray tears away as another memory hissed into place around him. Now he was in the dark living room of the same flat he'd found himself in when Rose's parents had been pronounced dead. Rose was sitting on a simple coffee table, hunched over and the sound of metal clicking into place put the Doctor on full alert.

"No…Rose, no, don't you dare!" but she couldn't hear him and he began to yell at her for such stupidity as Rose lifted the loaded gun to her head, tears raining down her face.

"Pull the trigger, and they will have died for nothing." A chiding voice broke into the Doctor's rant and he spun around to find a young man leaning against the archway of the living room. Rose didn't even startle, she was that far gone in her grief. So what if there was some strange man staring at her from across the room. So what if he was technically breaking and entering into her home.

"S'not like it matters…" Rose whispered, refusing to lower the weapon. "Even if I do it, I can't die. I never, ever die." Her voice cracked and a sob escaped her trembling lips.

"Oh, but it matters…_Rose Tyler_. It matters very much." The play of her name seemed to draw a tiny bit of her attention, getting her to at least peer up at him through watery eyes.

The man before her looked young, with a mop of brown hair that was just long enough to pull into a pony tail if he really wanted to. Instead, he wore it naturally down, giving him a nice wild look. He had a wide chin and forehead, deep cheek bones, and a bit of a big mouth, but his eyes… When Rose locked eyes with his, she hissed in surprise and the gun clattered to the ground. She _knew_ those eyes!

The man held up his hands in defense, knowing what was probably running through her head.

"Um, no, sorry, I'm not who you think I am! Not exactly… You see…I'm…eh…well?" He now seemed a bit embarrassed and scratched the back of his head with an uneasy smile. "Oh, I'm…this is rubbish!"

"Don't," Rose whispered, her hand flying to cover her mouth in total shock as a new wave of tears spilled down her cheeks.

"No, not you, me! I'm rubbish at this! I mean, these aren't even my memories! They belonged to him, not me! Good God I'm still so bloody rude! Not used to this body…wait a minute, what day is it? Did I even get the date right?"

Rose had had just about enough of the man's ranting and bent to retrieve the gun. She was a real nutter to be hallucinating this crazy man in her house.

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute, Tyler…" the man barked and took a step forward, struggling with the right words to soothe her. Finally, he seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Do you know how truly remarkable you are? You've gone through so much…always giving, never taking, and always fighting for what's right, always…loving. Please, just hear me out…and then if you still want me to leave, I'll go and never bother you again." He'd knelt in front of her, his hand stilling hers above the gun on the floor.

It was as if the volume was stuck on mute because suddenly the Doctor couldn't hear the man's words as he spoke to her. And then the image blurred and refocused. Both Rose and this stranger were still in the dark living room but now the man was standing in front of her and he offered her his hand. Rose stared at it for a moment, hesitating to take it. Finally, she slowly placed her trembling hand in his and he pulled her up gently from the table.

The memory dissolved and that's when things got more chaotic. Everything from that point on was a jumble of faces, voices, pictures, sounds… He caught glimpses of River Song with her smiling face, a young woman with red hair, and a man whom he also didn't recognize. But the memories wouldn't settle on any of them, racing past the Doctor with lightning speed until a red glow began to form around him.

Finally, the images dimmed away as the glowing light took hold of his vision. Then it shimmered into orange, a brilliant, deep red-orange. The Doctor stared at his feet because the orange-ish glow was now rippling like water…almost as if…

His hearts froze over from the sheer impossibility of such a thing. The water lapping at his feet…these exact waters, he knew them! The waters of Gallifrey itself. The Doctor dropped to his knees in longing, reaching out to touch the glassy surface but unable to feel it. He was too afraid to look up from the water's reflection, but he need not bother because across the shimmering waters was the reflection of Rose…and she was staring at him.

The Doctor's wide eyes slowly traveled up and locked with hers and for a moment, he couldn't breathe. Rose was staring directly at him, almost as if she could see him. She started walking forward, never sinking into the water as she purposely strode toward him.

And then she was standing in front of him, her expression hidden inside a calm, collected mask.

"I didn't want this…to let you in," Rose spoke to him, gesturing to the orange world around them.

The Doctor's gaze followed her hand, taking in the silver leaved trees, rich red grass, and bright orange skies of his beloved Gallifrey.

"This. It was never meant for you to see… You had no right!" Her voice was tight and a little harsh.

Before he had a chance to speak, to make any sense of her words, Rose hissed and grabbed at her head, falling to her knees.

"Rose!" The Doctor was quick to catch her, slowing her fall and he kept a steady hand on her shoulders.

"My head…it hurts so much, Doctor…It feels as if I've lost something. My memories…they're fading. I just want it to end." Rose cried softly, still holding her head with her eyes crammed shut.

The Doctor pulled her to him in a tight embrace, throwing his own personal boundaries out the window. If they got out of this together…well, he'd take it one step at a time.

"I can stop it, Rose, but you've gotta show me the way. Only you can bring me there! This is not me, Rose, it's all you, just you! These are your thoughts, your memories, not mine. You have total control over them, over everything in here. But you have to focus, lead me to the source!"

A snarl slipped from Rose's throat, startling the Doctor. Then she began to glow a brilliant gold and she ripped free of his arms, leaping several feet back. With a howl, her body convulsed and a magnificent golden wolf burst forth, bearing it's fangs at the Time Lord.

"You were told to leave!" the beast barked, crouched and ready to spring at any second.

"Oh, no, so sorry to disappoint, but I won't be leaving," the Doctor hissed back in defiance. He'd had enough of the wolf and its threats. He needed to save Rose!

"I don't care who or what you are but there's one thing I can promise you. I will NOT leave Rose Tyler, not now, not ten years from now, not ever!" he yelled, standing tall and proud. He would never back down from this creature.

"I am _the Doctor_. I am a Time Lord, the last of my kind and well over 900 years old. I've lived far too many lives to be afraid of man or beast and if I have to take you down to save Rose and bring her back, I'll do it a thousand times over. I warn you, Bad Wolf, don't you dare try and cross me."

The wolf growled but backed away from the Time Lord. This time, it kept backing up and the Doctor began stalking after it. He knew that the wolf would lead him to the channel flaring within Rose's mind. When the wolf turned and ran in full flight, the Doctor was right on its heels.

It irked the Doctor that they were now running through the fields of Gallifrey instead of some void within Rose's mind. The wolf pelted through the red grass, tearing up the soil with every stride, but no matter how fast she ran, the Doctor was right behind her. The vivid colors and vegetation brought so much heartache and hidden turmoil to the surface of his mind that the Doctor used such anguish to fuel the impossible chase.

The wolf weaved her way through trees and over rocks, trying to slow the Doctor's pursuit but when that failed, she swung a sharp right by an uprooted silver shrub and ducked into a very large dark cave. The Doctor didn't even hesitate, his eyes forever locked on his target as the blackness swallowed him up and he kept running with the wolf glowing brightly in front of him.

Finally, the wolf slid to a halt, leaping sideways to avoid contact with the Doctor and she snarled with such rage. The pair circled each other, eyes locked and glaring, neither willing to yield to the other. The Oncoming Storm was brewing beneath the surface and nothing would stand in its wake if it breached the boundaries of the Time Lord's control. The wolf sensed his fury and quivered slightly, her resolve to fight wavering for just a second.

When the wolf decided to flee a second time, the Doctor was a step ahead of her. He'd been waiting for this, the moment when the wolf would take the ultimate escape route to the channel hidden deep within Rose's mind. When she dove into the blackness at her feet, the Doctor lunged forward, grabbing her tail just as the hole swallowed her up and he was dragged in with her.

"Oh, ho, ho." The Doctor chuckled darkly, a triumphant smile on his face. "Now that's more like it!"

They were no longer in the black cave of Gallifrey. The room was huge with white washed walls and glittering balls of orange light danced along the ceiling. Small circular mirrors littered the walls in every direction and in the center of the room was single larger mirror casting a beam of light to the rest, reflecting a million yellow laser beams. The noise was deafening! The hum of overwhelming energy coursed through every bone in the Doctor's body, so much so that after a few seconds, his head because to pound harshly. This was it, the channel he needed to close. The energy was…well, mind blowing.

Wincing from the pain, the Doctor faced the golden wolf in challenge. The beast snarled and snapped at him from across the room, irate that he'd managed to follow her into the void where he clearly was not welcome. When she charged him this time, he was prepared to fight back but just before she made the lunge for his neck, she yelped and was flung roughly to right, almost like something had physically knocked her clean off her path from the side.

She struggled back to her feet and shook herself with a growl, even more furious than before. She charged the Doctor again but before she could get close enough, her front feet were ripped from under her and she crashed face-first onto the ground. When she got to her feet again, the wolf yelped and spun around, snapping at the air as if to ward of an invisible attacker. The wolf howled, growled, snarled, yelped and fought at the air around her in circles before turning the vengeance on herself. The Doctor watched the golden beast maul her own body in outrage, but it was anything but comical.

"…Rose…" The wolf froze when the Doctor called out her name.

"Is that you, Rose?" the Doctor asked cautiously, taking a small step toward the golden beast. He was answered with bared fangs as the wolf bristled at him, stepping away from him.

"Rose is mine!" she barked, fangs glittering in the light.

"Oh, but that's where your wrong. So very, very wrong. You see, I know she's in there, fighting against you, yeah? That's my girl, always fighting, never giving up!"

For a split second, the wolf's eyes flashed and then she shook her head with a howl, rearing backwards. She bit at the air, twisting and turning to find her attacker but there was no one to sink her teeth into.

"Rose Tyler." The Doctor stood his ground, even though the intense pain in his head was slowly getting worse. He fought to keep it in control but it was becoming harder and harder to ignore. Swallowing against the pain, he lifted his hand and offered it to the her, staring into the eyes of the golden wolf as if he could see her very soul.

"Rose Tyler," he repeated through clamped teeth, "take my hand. Take my hand and we can run, yeah? Just you and me, like old times… Remember, Rose? The first word I said to you when we first met? I said 'Run' and then you took my hand and we ran for our lives. And here we are again, you and me. Take my hand, Rose…because I don't want to run alone anymore. Better with two…" His voice was thick with emotions that he couldn't tamp down, and a single tear betrayed his resolve to be strong in this chaos.

The wolf whined and took a tentative step towards him. And then her ears pinned flat against her head and she snarled at herself. With a violent shake, her body shuttered as she fought an inner battle of wills, Bad Wolf against Rose Tyler.

They were oblivious to the Doctor's approach, but when Rose broke free of the golden beast, he was there to catch her fall. Rose was trembling and panting from her efforts and tears ran freely down her face but the Doctor held her close and kissed her hair. He'd always had faith in Rose

Just as the pain was getting to unbearable levels, he pulled her back away from him and gripped either side of her temple with the palm of both hands. Their eyes met, both tear stained and full of unspoken words and in that moment, their thoughts became one. Their foreheads touched and together, the flaring channel was tamed within the void. The last thing either of them remembered was the brushing of lips before the world around them went black for the last time.


	8. Chapter 8

I probably should of edited out that one little paragraph in chapter 7 for fanfictions sake but...oops. Not gonna change that now. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, it's not so fast paced, bit of a cool down here :)

Chapter 8-

With a groan, the Doctor stirred to life from a very unusual deep sleep. His eyes remained closed, but he let his senses test the air around him, debating if he really wanted to wake up or just drift back off to sleep. Wait a minute…that wasn't normal Time Lord behavior. And why the blazes was he sleeping in the first place?

The Doctor sat up with a start, causing a brief spell of disorientation that had his head reeling. He pinched the bridge of his nose, cramming his eyes shut a few seconds until his head regained enough stability from his sudden movement. With a heavy sigh, he slowly opened his eyes and found himself sitting up on a spare cot next to a set of machines. Then he realized that his left hand was holding something soft and warm.

Glancing down, the Doctor gazed at the glorious sight of Rose who was settled in a deep sleep of her own. She looked at peace, laying there with her head turned slightly towards him and her hand held gently in his own. Watching her steady breathing, he let the recent memories of their crazy reunion flood his mind.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there watching her, but when his legs became numb from lack of use, he reluctantly let her hand go and slipped from the cot. Stretching, he then removed the wiring from his head and go to work.

For the next half-hour, the Doctor checked over his machinery and disconnected parts that he no longer needed. He went to Rose's bedside and checked over her vital signs before carefully removing the tape and suction cups from her body. The last machine he touched was his Dimensional Dream Converter.

As he wheeled it over to the far corner wall of the medical bay, he felt a twinge of guilt flood him. The Converter had given him a better insight into Rose's mind, and while that wasn't exactly a crime, the fact that it _recorded_ the memories probably was. In a way, he felt he had no right to invade her privacy without her permission, but he also had an underlying fear that this nightmare was far from over. If he had a battle waiting in the near future, he'd need every bit of information he could get. For now, he wouldn't review those recordings…

At some point, the Doctor had managed to float back across the room to Rose's bedside. He reached out, aching to caress her face but his hand stilled just inches above her cheek. In the end, he scooped her up in his arms to bring her to her old room. Rose adjusted herself as he entered the hall, snuggling into him with a soft sigh though she never stirred from her sleep. When he got to the door of the bedroom, he hesitated, not really fond of the idea of letting her go. The TARDIS had other ideas, though and she unlatched the deadbolt she'd set long ago and the door swung open on its own.

Gently, the Doctor set Rose in her bed. He gingerly removed her trainers but that's as far as he dared go before digging in the sheet closet for a thick gold duvet to cover her with. The TARDIS had made sure to put fresh sheets & pillows on the mattress before their arrival. When he was satisfied with his work, he left her to rest after lingering just a little longer than necessary in her door way. It wasn't easy to pry himself from the room, and it was even harder to shut the door and walk away. But he did, forcing every step to lead him back to the console room. He had a lot of things to straighten out and he'd wasted enough time.

-24 hours later-

A steady hum was the first thing that came to Rose's consciousness as the edges of sleep ebbed from her body. She slowly opened her eyes, sighing deeply and feeling…content. Was that the right word for how she felt? She took in her surroundings, recognizing her old TARDIS room and a heaviness that had filled her heart for so long was lifted from her soul. She reached up and caressed the wall above the headboard, reaching out to the TARDIS in comfort. She'd missed the ship as much as the ship missed her.

It had been a little over a day since the TARDIS had had a much younger Rose Tyler aboard, but even then, the blue box could sense the weariness of time in which this older Rose had been separated from their mental link. She soothed the woman's thoughts with her steady hum, telling her that everything would be alright, that she was safe and welcome inside her homely walls. Rose had the distinct feeling that the TARDIS would never again allow the Doctor to abandon her like that.

Rose reluctantly withdrew her hand and pushed back the duvet as she sat up, stretching stiff muscles that'd been still for too many hours. How long had she been asleep anyway? Vague memories flashed through her mind, reminding her of the living computer's meltdown, her impossible jump to the TARDIS, and then the agonizing pain within her head.

With a hiss, Rose recalled the Doctor and what he'd had to do to make her better. He'd been inside the one place that he didn't belong in! What had he seen? What did he know? There were things that he was not ready to know about, that he _shouldn't_ know about until time led them to that specific point in their lives. If he found out too soon…

Rose jumped from her bed and rushed to the wardrobe to change out of her old clothing. She grabbed a bright pink vest and a black leather jacket that was littered with all sorts of pockets in the front, along with matching leather pants before struggling into the outfit as fast as her trembling hands would let her. She then found a new pair of trainers waiting by her bedside and kicked them on before grabbing a brush to rake through her long, blonde hair.

Satisfied, Rose fled the comfort of her bedroom and sought out the Doctor, determined to find out what he'd seen and witnessed. For the life of her, that part of her mind was lost to her and she had no idea what she'd let slip out in all that jumbled chaos. She had to make sure her secrets were safe. The Doctor could _not_ know about that baby!

-

The Doctor sat on a stool by a cluttered work table within the medical bay. He was busily tinkering with one of his small projects, always one to keep himself busy when he was nervous or on edge. Leaning against the end of the work table, Jack was a bit busy himself, doing some minor modifications to his Vortex Manipulator. Their work helped ease the tension between them.

"Sorry, Jack…I didn't mean to snap. It's just…too much too soon I suppose." The Doctor said with a sigh. He pushed his spectacles further up his face and ran the sonic screwdriver over the metal box he was currently disassembling.

"Don't worry about it, I understand, Doctor, really I do. Time can leave a nasty bite. Can't imagine I'd be any more stable if I were in your shoes. It's been two-thousand years for me, and just three days for you, after all." Jack replied easily, never taking his eyes from his work. He set down the tiny metal screwdriver he'd been using and picked up a small flash light to check his work.

"…and Rose?" the Doctor hesitated, not entirely sure he wanted to know that answer. "How long has it been…for her?"

Jack gave a long sigh and glanced up at the ceiling in thought.

"To be honest, even I don't know the answer to that. But she's been working with the Torchwood team here for the past fifty years. Not only that, but she came back to us…well educated…almost like she'd been around the Universe a million times over. She doesn't talk about it much, not even to me. She's like a sister so I know it's not because of her lack of trust as a friend."

The Doctor's attention was now on Jack, his work completely forgotten.

"Fifty years? You're positive?" he couldn't keep the worry from his voice.

It wasn't right. Rose was human when he'd left on Bad Wolf Bay. He knew she wasn't a fixed point like Jack, he'd seen as much in what little bit of her timeline he was able to glimpse. And that was another unsettling thought. As a Time Lord, the Doctor could see anyone's Timeline if he searched deep enough for it, but whenever he focused on Rose's in particular, it was almost as if it avoided him, just out of reach of his senses.

There were only two possibly ways for that to be even remotely possible; one, her Timeline was too enmeshed with his own to allow a clear view of it, or two, Rose would have to be a Time Lord herself with the mental capabilities to block him out — which was impossible.

"I'm sure of it," Jack gave a nod, picking up another tiny random tool to work with.

"She was a complete mess when we found her in Canary Wharf. Put up one hell of a fight when my men tried to subdue her too. Thought she was some sort of alien threat 'til I got there! She kept cursing someone named Susan, said she'd been-"

The clatter of metal on the floor cut into Jack's reminiscing and he turned sharply to the Doctor who was staring at him like he'd seen a ghost.

"What did you just say?" he hissed, his face suddenly pale and hard.

"What, Susan?" Jack stood up a little straighter, facing the Doctor in confusion. When he didn't reply, he continued on.

"Rose went on a crazy rant about Susan leaving her behind. Never would explain more than that. On the rare occasions she actually slept from over-exhaustion, she'd sometimes call out the name in her sleep. Sometimes it was for River Song…her Mum or Dad, her brother Tony…or you. Mostly you. Most definitely you." He shrugged and turned back to his work, knowing the Doctor was now deep in troubled thought.

After a few minutes of thick silence, the Doctor shook his head and collected his metal box from the floor, going back to work.

"…Susan was the name of my Granddaughter…" he finally offered in a low, collected voice.

"From Gallifrey?" Jack asked, picking up the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah…" came the Doctor's soft reply. "I was a father once — weeell, twice if you count Jenny. None of them born, mind you. Loomed, or in Jenny's case, grown by Progenation Machine with a sample of my DNA. But their all gone now, my family. You know enough of the details…"

Jack gave nod and set his final tool down. The Vortex Manipulator was finished and he inspected his handy work.

"It's been a long while since I've had kids myself," Jack murmured with a sigh. "I'm sure I have some great great great —you get the idea- grandkids out there somewhere, but after while, you kind of lose track of it all. Lost touch with them…"

For a while, Jack and the Doctor settled into companionable silence as the Time Lord worked.

"So what now, Doctor?" Jack finally asked when a thought occurred to him.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor asked, giving him a sideways glance over his glasses.

"With Rose. She's not coming back to Torchwood. I won't allow it. I watched that girl grow up and then spent the last fifty years holding her hand while she struggled to survive where she really doesn't belong, but it's not my job, nor my place to do so… She needs you, now more than ever." Now jack was staring at him intently.

The Doctor sighed and ran a free hand nervously through his hair, not really sure how to answer the question.

When Rose quietly cleared her throat from the doorway she was leaning against, both men startled. Neither Jack nor the Doctor had noticed her slip in quietly while they talked about her. How long had she been standing there?

The Doctor was quick to leap to his feet when he saw her, ripping off his glasses and stuffing them in a pocket before taking a hesitant step toward her, his work cast aside. He didn't care if he looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, nor did he care that it was suddenly hard to breathe. He wanted to run to her, to embrace her and hold her and know that she was real and not just some really sick dream. He didn't fail to notice that Rose mirrored his expression.

Rose knew that look, she'd memorized every single detail of his face that dreadful night just before he was shot by a Dalek. Her heart clenched painfully, seeing him so distraught like that, and the fear she'd carried with her down the hall only minutes before vanished without a trace.

Without her consent, her legs began moving of their own accord, meeting the man she loved half-way across the room. Rose threw herself into his arms and traitorous tears poured freely down her face as she buried herself into the Doctor's warm embrace. Neither of them noticed Jack slip quietly out the door.

Rose wasn't sure just how long they stood there, holding each other like lifelines, but when they finally pulled apart, she was surprised to see that he'd been crying too. She reached up and gently brushed the water from his cheek. The Doctor grasped at her hand, holding it firmly against his face before pulling it to his lips and kissing it softly.

"Rose Tyler," he whispered, holding her close. "I'm so sorry, so very, very sorry. I'm an idiot, a complete and total nutter for leaving you on that beach. I thought…" he couldn't get the rest out because Rose had snaked her hands around his neck and pulled him to her lips.

The Doctor had been kissed by countless girls in the past, but never like this. He wanted to kiss Rose, needed to kiss her and hold her and tell her things that he'd never told anyone else. He willingly bowed to her demand, letting her take control of his mouth. He was too stunned and love-sick to do much of anything else so he lost himself in the moment, memorizing every second of this first _real_ kiss between them.

It ended too soon, Rose having to pull away to catch her breath and she ducked her head shyly, shocked by her possessive actions. It'd been too many years since she'd touched him, held him, kissed him, loved him…and yet for him, he'd only just left her behind in the parallel universe. This man in front of her had invisible boundaries set between them, boundaries that had never been crossed because things were just too complicated. They had only been friends, the very best of friends, but still just friends.

So when a strong finger settled under her chin and jerked her face back up to him, she was astonished to feel the Doctor's lips crash back down on hers. Rose welcomed his touch, parting her lips to give him better access when his tongue sought to taste her, to feel and explore the dips and curves of her mouth, taking precious moments to catalog each and every finite detail. It was a kiss of desperation, a kiss of longing and of love, and for the five minutes they stood there, it took their breaths away.

Rose was vaguely aware of a hand tangling in her hair while another hooked firmly around her waist, pulling her flush against his solid frame. The act of kissing him, of being kissed by him, was suddenly overwhelming and she broke free from it, long buried emotions surging to the surface in a wave of strangled sobs. She stumbled back just out of reach and covered her face with both hands in an attempt to gain control of herself. Why now? Why would her memories come flooding back now?

"I'm sorry, Rose, I-" The Doctor stammered but Rose shook her head and held out one hand to still his apologies.

"'S not you, Doctor, honest. Just…give me a minute, yeah?" Rose bit her bottom lip and wiped the tears from her eyes, taking in a lungful of air and slowly letting it out. She looked anywhere but him, trying to reel in her control before continuing.

"Been a long time since I've been held or kissed like that and it just gotta bit overwhelming, is all." Rose finally spoke, meeting his gaze before staring at his feet.

When she was able to meet his eyes again, she saw a sad smile on his lips and again her heart clenched painfully for him. She knew he was hurting, probably beating himself up horribly and blaming him for all the wrongs she'd had to face alone in her life.

"'S not your fault, you know…" she added, taking a step toward him and reaching for his empty hands.

"Did what you thought was best for me, because you… I mean, at least that's what I've led my heart to believe, anyway…" The Doctor was quick to notice how she danced around those three little words, words he held deep within his heart. How he ached to say them to her, but did he truly have the right? His human copy had been the one to step up where he himself failed miserably…so those words were never _his_ to give.

"He told you, didn't he? Your memories, I saw, well…you and him…" Now the Doctor felt utterly uncomfortable. He didn't want to cross the line and bring back painful memories for Rose and he was pretty sure that's why she reacted negatively to his snog moments before.

Rose bit her lip at his question, her eyes shifting to the ground as she thought about her answer. To think about that man, that other part of the Doctor whom she had deeply loved, it really hurt, but he was still a part of him, a part of the man standing before her, a man very much alive and well, considering all that he'd just gone through. The Doctor deserved some answers…so she braced herself to give them to him.

Rose stepped back and found a chair to sit on, gesturing the Doctor to do the same. For a minute, she picked at the dirt under a random fingernail as she thought about what she could and couldn't talk about. She surmised that talking about the human Doctor was something she could talk about, even if it hurt her heart to do so. She needed to let the pain go and it was a step in the right direction anyway.

"No…he never told me that he loved me." Rose finally answered, meeting the Doctor's shocked expression with a sad smile of her own.

"When I asked about that later, he said he never had that right, that those words were never his to give. Oh, he showed me how much he loved me in so many other ways…but never once did he actually _say_ them."

The Doctor couldn't quite believe his ears. He'd only just thought the same exact thing second before and then to hear that his human copy had said those words... Disbelief turned to outrage as he thought about all those precious moments the man had obviously had with Rose. Hell, he'd given the idiot the chance to spend a lifetime with her, and yet he'd never told her he loved her?

"Never? Not even once? You mean to tell me that he…your serious?" He couldn't even form a clear sentence, he was that furious with his other self. Of all the idiotic things he could have done!

The only reason the Time Lord never said it himself was because she was human. A relationship with a lesser species was forbidden for good reason, and even though he no longer had that rule towering above his head, the raw instinct to protect his heart always overrode his emotions in that respect. A human life was a mere blink of the eye compared to the lifespan of a Time Lord. He would have been forced to watch Rose wither with age until she died. So leaving Rose with his human self was the only viable option to give her a life the Time Lord would never be able to give himself.

"Never," Rose replied, her voice oddly calm. She had had so many years to question the man's actions, to really think about it, to understand the madness behind something that should have been so simple. Rose also had her secrets, the knowledge that this Doctor in front of her lacked, the same knowledge that gave her heart comfort, allowing it to heal in time. So this small revelation wasn't as hard for her to admit as it was for the Doctor to swallow.

"But the beach, surely that's what he whispered to you that day? I mean, you snogged the life outta him and I thought-"

Rose gave a small laugh at the memory, the sound both light and sad.

"No, Doctor, even then, he never said those words… He just…begged me let you go. He told me this was killing you, and to let you go. So I snogged him. I was so confused and hurt and torn…so I took that out on him and snogged him for all he was worth. It killed me to do that, to let you walk away and never say goodbye." She couldn't meet his eyes again, focusing intently on the floor as she let the words fall from her lips.

"But I suppose it never really was goodbye for us, yeah? I mean…even after all these years, here we are again, back on board the good ol' TARDIS." She smiled the thought, chancing a glance at the Doctor. She noted how torn he looked, his face caught between sorrow and anger at his own mistakes.

"You probably have five billion questions for me, right Doctor? It's ok, you know, to ask… I'll try an' answer what I can…but there are some things I'm not really ready to talk about so please respect that request if it comes to it. Is that alright?"

The Doctor cleared his throat and sighed, running both his hands through his hair in that familiar nervous fashion that Rose missed so much. He wasn't sure where to even begin, but he had to start somewhere.

"Right. Yes, well then…" he coughed and then finally managed to focus on the most important question of them all.

"How are you feeling, Rose? After everything with the living computer…the King Vampire…and my reappearance…are you ok? Are you truly and honestly ok?"

The Doctor leaned forward and pulled his seat a little closer to her so that he was now close enough to reach out and grasp her hands if needed.

Rose had to smile that this, warmed that he would put her needs and emotions first above all else. His face was serious and his soulful eyes told her that she was his priority and that the questions could wait if she really needed the space.

"'M alright, Doctor, really I am. Being back on this ship, and with you…the emptiness I've felt in my head for so long isn't there anymore. Even now, I can feel her presence." Rose looked up at the ceiling, directing loving thoughts to the TARDIS.

"You may have a bond with this ship, but we go way back, her and me…" she added, again meeting his gaze.

That sentence brought on a whole new wave of questions that the Doctor wanted to ask.

"And that brings me to question number two," the Doctor sighed, a bit uncomfortable again. When Rose gave a nod of encouragement, he continued.

"…How many years has it been since Bad Wolf Bay…or better yet, exactly how old are you, Rose Tyler?"

Rose stared at him in silent thought. "Are you sure you really want to know the answer to that question, Doctor?" she asked softly, knowing the answer would probably rock his boat a bit.

"Indeed, I'm pretty sure that I do…" the Doctor replied, and then he braced himself, knowing that deep down, he really _didn't_ want to know that answer at all.

-  
End Author's Note: Good Lord, I'm right rubbish at writing the fluff part of all this. A simple kiss was way worse to write than the memories chapter :P Anywho...not sure if this would count as a cliff hanger buuuuut...more to come! Is it just me, or are these chapters getting longer?


	9. Chapter 9

Edana1009 and enchantment1972 – I love your feedback! As an author, I love to hear how things are turning out. It's never the same when you read your own work and it takes effort to make sure all the pieces fit together. Hope I don't disappoint anyone! TARDISLover6, Heart of Diamond, and to all my other reviewers and readers, THANK YOU for the support! The reviews help keep my on my toes and writing. :)

Chapter Nine

* * *

Rose hesitated before she spoke, taking the time to worry her bottom lip between her teeth as she mentally calculated her age. In all honesty, she hadn't kept the best track of time where her age was concerned, but she had it written down somewhere in a notebook back in her room at Torchwood.

"Nine hundred and three," she answered offhandedly, shrugging it off as if it didn't really matter. Of course, the Doctor's choking fit begged to differ quite a bit.

"What? It's a good age to be at, yeah? I mean, I'm in the prime of my life!" She was trying to put some humour into it, but really, what else could she do?

The Doctor was ogling her like she'd grown a second head, absolutely gobsmacked at the absurdity of it all. After a minute, Rose sat back in her chair with a huff, a bit irritated with the man gaping like a fish out of water in front of her.

"Breathe, Doctor, really now!" she chided, as if to scold a young boy.

The Doctor, regaining what little sanity he had left, leapt to his feet and started pacing. He was expecting something along the lines of a hundred years, maybe even a hundred and fifty… That much he could explain, or easily find the answer to. Maybe she'd been exposed to some sort of chemical or radiation in younger years working for that blasted Torchwood in the parallel universe, causing some sort of genetic shift to slow her aging. That was a reasonable assumption. But…nine hundred and three?

"No…no, no. You're funny, that's…heh. Not possible, not even remotely possible!"

Rose didn't take his rambling to heart at first, recognizing his nervous state as typical Doctor behaviour. So she sat there and let him think it out on his own. She wondered just how long it would take him swallow this bit of info down.

"Really? Nine hundred and three? I mean, I know Jack is immortal in all respects because he's a fixed point in time, no timeline exists! But you, I can see your timeline…weeell, not all of it, but it's still there, a timeline rolled out for you and when I last saw you, you were human! You are human, not some alien, not a Time Lord or immortal or whatever other beings exist out there. Human!"

The Doctor paced in agitation, struggling with the reality that Rose was practically his own age! Not possible, impossible…insanely-not-even-close to possible. Rose was human, she was human, had to be human!

"Why's it so hard to believe that I'm nine hundred and three?" Rose finally spoke up, now getting a little upset at his ranting.

The Doctor shook his head, his pacing never ceasing as he pulled at his ear in thought, trying to run possible scenarios through his head. Rose was human when he last saw her, yes. But then what? What had she been up to since then? Or more importantly, what had she been up to before then, before he'd left her in Norway? Wait a minute…the Dimension Cannon! He spun around and stabbed a finger at her.

"How many times did you use that Dimension Cannon?" he demanded, his brain already puzzling out the possible side effects.

Rose had to smile at him, he'd finally connected some of the dots.

"Too many times to count," she replied with a sigh, "Nothing was gonna stop me from getting back to you. The very fabric of the Universe was being torn apart and I had to warn you. I didn't know it at the time, what it was doing to my body with every jump. Sometimes I would jump ten times in a single day…" She watched the Doctor resume his pacing in troubled thought.

"And let me guess, you hopped right into the thing without proper testing," the Doctor spat out, though he never intended that thought to be said aloud.

"We had no time, Doctor! The stars were going out, our world was in danger! Alright, yes, it changed me! I'm not the naïve, fragile human girl you picked up off the streets in London all those years ago. Any injury I get heals in the matter of minutes. Shoot me, I'll stand right back up in about half an hour. I can't die, believe me, I've tested that theory!" Rose yelled that last part before slapping a hand over her mouth, shocking the both of them.

That came out wrong, really, really wrong. The tension was suddenly suffocating her, the air too hot to breathe in. Maybe she really wasn't ready to talk about all this…it was hurting way too much and her emotions were getting the better of her. Not only that, but her words were stabbing the Doctor, it was evident in the way his body stood rigid as he stared at her like she was possessed.

"'M sorry…" Rose pushed herself from the chair and fled the medical bay, seeking the comfort of her room. The Doctor stood still for a second longer before turning on his heels and trailing after her. When she got to her door, he was right there behind her and he snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her back flush against his chest. With a free hand, he opened her door and walked them in, shutting it softly behind them.

For a moment, they stood there panting, each trying to gain control of themselves, but the Doctor held her firmly to him, refusing to let her go.

"I let you slip away from me twice before, Rose Tyler…I won't make that mistake again," came the Doctor's gruff voice when he'd caught his breath.

Rose shuddered against him, his warm breath caressing the back side of her neck as he spoke in her ear. She cursed her body for the way it reacted to his touch, biting down hard on her lip to keep her mind focused on why she'd fled from him in the first place. But his words slowly worked their way into her tattered mind and she suddenly felt so weak.

"I know why you left me, I do, but it hurts…it hurts so much. I tried so hard to get back to you, and you left me on that beach…and then I had to watch you die, right when I was finally able to heal from it all, you died right in my arms! Human or not, it was still you. It's why I wanted to do it, why I tried…because even if I can't die, those few moments of complete blackness were the only moments of peace I had from it all. The nightmares…I can't sleep because of them. I just…I don't wanna be alone anymore, I can't do this alone, I can't!"

Rose broke down then, her knees falling out from under her and the Doctor braced her against him, sliding with her to the floor before turning her around to face him. He held her close and let her cry into his shoulder, gently rocking her back and forth. His hearts broke to hear her words and sobs, knowing that it was all his fault. He cried with her, kissing her hair and repeating over and over again that he was so sorry, so very sorry for hurting her.

It took Rose about an hour to get it all out and when she did manage to stop crying, the sleep she'd gotten earlier seemed very far away. But she refused to give in the urge to drift off, knowing that her nightmares would surface after such a fresh resurrection of long buried memories. Instead, she excused herself to clean up in the en suite and left the Doctor sitting at the edge of her bed.

In her absence, the Doctor was a complete mess, tearing himself apart for all the wrongs he'd done to Rose. He didn't deserve her, never had and never would. He'd had no right to ask her to come with him that night after she'd saved him from the Nestene Consciousness. He should have left her alone, should have walked away from the very beginning. Now he had to find some way to fix his mistakes…but what could he do? She didn't want him to leave, but if he stayed, would that really make things better? He always managed to muck things up!

Rose slipped from the en suite several minutes later. The lights in her room were dim and as she approached the Doctor, she took the time to really get a good look at him, focusing her thoughts on him instead of herself because she knew her little episode was probably hurting him even more inside. She noted how tense his body was, how his jaw clenched and how lost his soul looked. She had the sudden urge to be in his arms, to make his sadness go away and she knew that it would also make her feel better if they could somehow put this behind them.

Slowly, Rose joined him on her bedside and took his left hand, the Doctor clutching at it like a lifeline. She could feel a light tremble in his arm and she leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder. They sat like that for awhile, silently offering a little comfort to each other as they struggled to formulate words.

"I saw your death…" Rose finally broke the silence, coming to a decision within herself. She sat up straight again and stared ahead of her, looking at the pale green walls of her room as she spoke.

Somehow, the Doctor knew she wasn't referring to her human version of himself who'd died in her arms in Pete's world and the thought made his stomach twist painfully. It took him great effort to sit still and listen to Rose talk about her past, even though the death part scared the hell out of him.

"For the longest time I had no memory of becoming the Bad Wolf entity after looking into the heart of the TARDIS…but something happened, a change that was forced upon me and in that moment, I remembered…and I saw everything. All that is, all that was, all that ever could be…and I remembered.

"I saw your timeline, Doctor. I saw your death. For two whole weeks after that moment, I burned inside, tormented with the nightmares of it. I watched your sanity snap. I saw a darkness within you as you struggled to cope without someone by your side. You altered Timelines because you _could_and you didn't give a damn about the consequences until it was too late."

Rose was trying so hard to keep her voice steady and she took a ragged breath to compose herself.

"And you knew your death was coming, you _knew_it deep inside and it scared you. For a little while, you even ran away from it all, afraid to face the consequences of your actions. You pushed new friends away, holding onto the grief and guilt of what you'd done to me and the rest of your Children of Time an' you told yourself that we…always broke your heart." She bit her lip when her voice cracked. It took her a couple coughs before she could speak again.

"In the end, you sacrificed yourself to save Wilfred Mott from radiation poisoning. I won't go into the details because they're not gonna happen now, but that's what killed you in the end. You were able to hold off your regeneration long enough to revisit all your friends, though. Called it a reward of sorts…Mickey and Martha –they got married, did you know? Sarah Jane Smith and Luke, and even Jack. And then you travelled to the Powell Estate on January the first, year 2005.

"Never could let go of the guilt of leavin' me, you. Even as you stood there dying, you fought to see me one last time. God, I thought you were trashed that night… You asked me for the year," Rose choked out a bitter laugh at the memory.

"An' even though you were hurting so badly, you kept a strong face for me. Just before I left to go inside, you said 'Tell you what, I bet you're gonna have a really great year."

The Doctor sat there stiffly, again stunned silent as Rose fought to reel in her emotions. He couldn't fight the cold chill that ran up his spine as the echo of Ood Sigma came back to haunt him;_ I think you song must end soon…every song must end_. This had to be wrong…this was very, very wrong!

"Rose…" the Doctor pushed to his feet and began pacing again, worry and confusion set on his face. He took the effort to bite his tongue this time, refusing to take out his frustration on her like he had before. He knew this was difficult for Rose and he wasn't making it easier…but this was madness and he couldn't wrap his head around it all!

"You're a Time Lord, Doctor, so you know better than anyone else that Time is always in flux." Rose stated meekly from her seat on the bed.

"It can be rewritten…changed with the slightest tweak in history. I met the man who you'd one day become and he offered me the chance to change your future. He was wild, untamed. I saw his heart for who he was but he lacked that spark that I've always seen in you. River Song made him better, but he never truly was the same. And he was crazy enough to want to change your future. He didn't want you to become what he was and I had nothing more to live for so I took his hand and made a choice. That's the kind of man he was, a mad man with a box!"

"But that's just the problem, isn't it, Rose? You change my history and you alter the Universe! You've created a paradox, or worse! This is all going to go up in flames before it's even begun! If I'm meant to die, Rose, I will die, regardless of how you try to change that fact! Did we not already go through that nightmare with your father's death? Reapers and time-loops and chaos! Fixed Points, remember? You can't change my death, Rose, it's impossible!"

Rose stood up defiantly, her hands fisting as her temper flared. She stalked toward the Doctor, pointing a finger at him as she backed him into the wall.

"Don't. You. Dare," she barked, stabbing her finger at his chest.

"That man was never _you_. He was different from you, a separate person. Almost as if he was a parallel version of yourself, even though he wasn't. He had separate memories from you, met different people, did things a bit differently, and he lived there, stuck in that Universe ever since the Time War ended. But his feelings were the same! He fell in love with a human girl who saved his life in his ninth incarnation and he cared deeply for the friends he made along the way…and then he lost them, all of them, even her! It killed him…it killed him and it turned him into the man he is now!"

Now Rose had the Doctor pinned in a corner, her eyes flashing.

"He sacrificed so much to save you and he gave me back a life I never would have had. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here at all. I'd be forever trapped, alone and forgotten, just like him! You owe that man everything, all the way down to the very air you breathe because you'd be dead if it wasn't for him. There's no paradox, no reapers, nothing! If you pulled that thick head of yours out of your sorry arse, you'd see as much! You're a Time Lord, Doctor, so use your bloody senses and get a grip on yourself!"

Rose spun around and walked to the other side of her room, fuming at how daft the Doctor could really be at times. She busied herself with rearranging her old things, picking up odd trinkets that she'd collected during earlier travels with the Doctor. She toyed with each piece, fighting the anger she felt inside. She felt horrible for her outburst and sad because she couldn't save the one man who'd saved her from herself all those years ago. What was he doing out there now? Was he still travelling with the Ponds? Was he happy?

Time slowly ticked away in silence, neither party able to talk. The Doctor struggled to find the right words and Rose felt the words she wanted to say strangled from her throat. It seemed as if hours had passed by before Rose could finally turn and face the Doctor again.

"Look…I don't know everything, and I certainly don't know the future, mine or yours. A long time ago, I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and yes, I saw everything…but I only remember you, just you - your life and your death from that point in time. This timeline is different now, raw and unknown and it really scares the hell outta me. But no matter what's to come, you need to know…you're my life, Doctor, it's always been you. I loved you when I first met you, and I loved you when you regenerated, and I loved you even as a human. I have loved every part of who you are and that's never gonna change."

Rose kept her eyes glued on the Doctor as she let it all out, her voice thick with unshed tears.

"And I owe that man everything too. I couldn't save him from himself, and he's out there, somewhere, travelling the stars, going on adventures, meeting new people and losing them too…and always hurting inside. And then one day he'll die. But he gave us this chance…a chance to make things better and to start over…"

She tore her eyes away from his and sat back down on the edge of her bed because she didn't trust her legs any longer.

"I don't expect you to understand all this in a single day, really I don't…but don't…push me away because of it. Ha, who am I kidding, this is only the start of it all! I haven't even told you about... Oh never mind…I'm not ready to talk about it anyway, I need time…time to think…time to…breathe."

As she huffed out the last word, she let herself fall back on the bed and hugged herself tightly. The Doctor stood in his corner, watching her in silence as he absorbed every single word she'd said. For a while, he was afraid to even speak. Oh yes, she was right about the information overload and he was going to need time to sort it all out…but Rose also needed him. Three days for him had been well over eight hundred plus years for her and he knew better than anyone what Time could do to ones soul. He'd be a fool to deny it…he needed her too.

The Doctor approached the bed with caution, gazing down at Rose who looked beyond exhausted. They stared at each other in silence, and then Rose patted the spot next her in a silent request to join her. He allowed himself to sit down but Rose wasn't satisfied enough and tugged on his arm until it gave out from under him and he fell on the mattress beside her. Just that simple act had his hearts racing. They were so close, faces just inches apart as Rose turned to face him.

Without his consent, his hand reached out and gently brushed away a strand of blonde hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Rose closed her eyes, leaning into the caress with a small sigh and when she opened them again, her heart leapt at the searing intensity held within his eyes. Unconsciously, she licked her lips, triggering a need within the Doctor to feel them against his own once again.

It was a soft kiss, a kiss meant to flutter the heart and warm the soul and Rose melted under it, returning the simple pressure with equal affection. She understood that this was very new to him and she never asked for more than he was willing to give.

Still, Rose couldn't help but ache inside for the mental caress of another touching her mind. It was something so intimate, something so deeply ingrained within her that she fought to compress the need to reach out and touch the Doctor's mind. If she broke those sacred boundaries too soon, her secrets would be revealed and he wasn't ready to handle them just yet. It's why she'd fought so hard to keep him out of her mind to begin with!

The Doctor broke for air with a startled gasp, and before Rose could protest, he placed his free hand against her temple. She didn't even have time to register what he was doing until it was too late and then another presence forced its way into her soul, caressing her mind, embracing her heart. The mental link was light, just a feathery touch and nothing compared to what she'd yearned for, but it was enough to ease the emptiness within. A song so soft and gentle filled her mind, lulling her senses to rest until the very world faded into peaceful nothingness.

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he'd lain there, watching Rose sleep peacefully beside him, but finally the Doctor found the will power to sit up. He'd been taken by surprise when the ripples of telepathy called out to him and he'd immediately sought to answer the echoing plea. The overwhelming power of it all, to feel the presence of another's mind so clearly…he'd never expected to feel that force again. For Rose to possess that level of telepathy, she'd have to be a lot less human and a lot more Time Lord.

Now he sat there, torn between fear of what was happening to Rose and joy for the presence of another within his mind that he was frozen in place for the next hour. He tried to work out a possible scenario of how this came to be. Rose was human before he left her, and now she was not. She'd been altered during her escapade with the Dimension Cannon, but that was only part of it. While the Cannon changed her body, it would never have affected her mind. Something else was missing, a key element in all this and he knew it was right under the tip of his nose.

Thinking back to the moment he mentally sought out Rose's mind, a fear had stuck out above all the rest. Even though the Doctor had merely touched her mind in comfort, whatever she'd been thinking was right there, clear as day for anyone to read. He'd felt her longing to make the connection with his mind, but that was chased away by the sudden fear that he'd find out about her secret too soon…

The Doctor got a really sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. She'd been thinking about it, the one thing she didn't want him to know about…

Rose Tyler had been thinking about a baby…a baby with the ability to _regenerate_.

"Oh, bloody hell…"

* * *

End Author's Note: Reviews loved and appreciated. And no, I have not forgotten Mae and her people in all this. They are still on board, giving the Doctor and Rose some recoup time and they will be addressed here shortly. Eh...sorry about yet another semi cliffy? Ugh!


	10. Chapter 10

After the interesting discussion between the Doctor and Rose, it's time for the Doctor to open up a bit. Starts out sweet, gets a little steamy - I hope...

Chapter Ten

* * *

"Will we be landing soon, Doctor?" the pleasant voice of little Mae jarred the Doctor out of his brooding thoughts.

"Eh? What? …oh, right. Yes, sorry, Mae." The Doctor reached down and ruffled the girl's black curls, giving her a wide grin. His hearts were worn and tired inside, but Mae just had an aura about her that cheered up any room.

"Tell you what, wanna help me fly the TARDIS? She'd love the extra support, seeing as I've lost my right hand mate," he shot a playful glare at Jack who'd wandered off with Don to the other side of the console room.

Mae's brilliant smile was answer enough and he walked around to the basic levers that were more to her height on the console.

"Now then, when I say 'go,' I want you to pull this lever here as hard as you can and make sure to hold on tight, it likes to stick every so often. Keep it steady at number-five. When the blue button right here," he tapped at said button beside the lever, "lights up, you're gonna hit it twice and then let the lever go. Got all that?" he asked in a serious tone.

"I think so…" Mae grabbed the lever and peered up at the Doctor to make sure she had the right one.

"That's my girl! Give me just a few moments to get the coordinates set…aaaaaand, there we are! All set for the planet Foxenbirg."

Mae giggled as the Doctor bounced around the console, hitting buttons and spinning dials in his typical manic glee. When he'd prepped the ship for landing, he grabbed his trusty rubber mallet and smiled at Mae.

"Ready?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"Ready!"

"Go!" and together the pair of them steered the ship out of the Time Vortex.

Within moments, the TARDIS landed with a gentle jolt on solid ground.

"Here we are. Good as any place to start anew, don't you think?" The Doctor said cheerily as he examined the display screen, tapping a few keys to double check the stats.

"Foxenbirg - uninhabited planet, fairly young. Established with a good level of oxygen, stable atmosphere, plenty of fauna and flora to support a growing community..." the Doctor shrugged, satisfied with the TARDIS scan results.

"Now then, shall we?" he asked as he offered his hand to Mae, wiggling his fingers with unbridled excitement.

"Of course!" Mae gladly took his hand and the pair practically ran out the open door.

The rest of Mae's people were hesitant to leave the safety of the TARDIS, but they began filing out after the Doctor and Mae as Jack and Don herded everyone out from random rooms and bedrooms throughout the ship. Within thirty minutes, everyone had managed to shuffle into the rich green forest of Foxenbirg, with the exception of Rose who was hidden in her room. When Jack tried to lure her out she refused, stating she was still tired and wanted to rest.

Mae was utterly awestruck at the pure beauty of Foxenbirg. The forest trees were huge, seeming to stretch on forever into the turquoise sky. The thick brown trunks were so fat, it took three people joining hands to hug just one. She couldn't put a name to the colouring of the leaves, but they reminded her of peacock feathers – as the Doctor had called the exotic-looking bird pictured in a book in his library a couple days back.

The ground beneath her feet was soft and springy, almost like a cross between grass and moss. She wasn't sure of what to call it, but the colouring was a very rich green. The soil beneath the vegetation was a deep red-brown and she could make out the various invertebrates crawling all around.

Overwhelmed with the sheer wonder of her new home, Mae closed her eyes and felt the world with her heart this time, using her senses to take in the new sounds of animal life, the heavy scents of plant life, and then the utter euphoria radiating from her people. Her empathy web branched out, brushing every person, sharing in the fear and the joy of this breathtaking moment as everyone came to terms with what was happening. Her people had a home…this place, this wonderful, new, and exciting place…they were home!

* * *

Rose stood in the archway of the TARDIS door, the one remaining person within the ship. It was well into the night on the first day of their arrival on Foxenbirg and she peered up into the starlit sky, noting that this planet had four small moons, two of them blue and two of them a light purple.

In the distance, she could hear the chatter of happy people singing and dancing in merriment around a crackling camp fire. These people had something to celebrate alright. They finally had a home to call their own, thanks to the Doctor.

It'd been seven days since their rescue from the dying planet Rovenrukbar and in that time period, the Doctor had managed to treat every single person with any physical wounds while the TARDIS supplied much needed food and comfort. After the necessities were taken care of, the Doctor then got to know the people. He learned of their wandering state and set out to repay his debt to them. Mae had clearly objected at first because she felt he'd already done so much for them with the care and hospitality he'd provided, but the Doctor would have none of it.

So here they were at last, given the gift of new life, a fresh start on such a pure planet. And yet, Rose was unable to find it within herself to be happy. She felt alone, standing there in the doorway. Part of her was afraid to take that last step out of the TARDIS door, even though she knew the ship would never leave without her again. The thought brought a bitter smile to her lips, bring back old memories she'd rather not think about right then. Gallifrey was still too painful to think about…still too fresh a wound in her heart and yet another secret she couldn't share with anyone.

The TARDIS hummed a comforting song, echoing her sadness of what was lost, but the ship then reinforced the thought that Rose was finally back home where she belonged. Rose would never truly be alone again. Rose was safe, and Rose was loved. As those thoughts caressed her mind, Rose ran her hands along the inner walls, thanking the ship for the reminder.

The soft crunch of leaf litter beneath approaching feet drew Rose back to reality and she turned to face the darkness outside, unconsciously hugging herself. When the Doctor's thin frame came into view, she released the breath she'd been holding and leaned against the archway.

The Doctor stopped a few feet from the TARDIS door, peering in at Rose with a gentle look in his eyes.

"Hello," he greeted her softly, standing there in the moonlight.

"Hello," Rose returned with a meek smile pulling to one side of her face. She noted just how breathtakingly gorgeous the Doctor looked in his typical pinstripe suit, the moon making him literally glow like a majestic god of sorts.

"Care to take a walk with me, Rose? It's a lovely night with the moons out like this."

The Doctor offered her his hand in question and Rose couldn't help but take the final step out of the ship to fill it, needing to be close to him again. With a light squeeze of encouragement, the Time Lord led them off into the forest.

The world around them sang a brilliant song of life with insects and night creatures scurrying through the canopy above and Rose took the time to really let loose and enjoy the strange sounds. The midnight serenade was nothing compared to the chirping of insects or birds on Earth, but it was beautiful in its own way.

They walked peacefully together, lost in their own thoughts until the ground became a bit rocky. The trees thinned out when the earth began descending down a rather steep hill that was littered with small boulders and outcroppings within uneven vegetation. The moonlight was brightest here, casting an eerie glow clean across the landscape. Nestled in the nook of the valley was a thin, gurgling stream that twisted through the rocks. One word came to mind when they absorbed the beautiful land below. Paradise.

The Doctor and Rose settled on a smooth outcropping of grey stone, letting their feet dangle from the edge over the little stream below. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for them and they just sat there, enjoying the company of each other.

"Rose…" the Doctor was the first one to break the spell, and he gave her hand a squeeze as he turned to look at her. Rose shook her head with a soft smile and stilled his words with a finger to his lips.

"You don't have to say it, Doctor, I already know…" she whispered, turning her eyes back to the twin blue moons in the clear sky. They lapsed back into silence for a few moments before the Doctor tried again. This time he just plunged right in, not allowing her the chance to interrupt him because she _didn't_ know and he needed to get it all out while he could.

"I've spent roughly eight-hundred-plus years of my life travelling the Universe. Met so many people along the way, so many brilliant, beautiful people - aliens and humans alike. But I never let them get so close to my hearts…"

The Doctor's voice was sad but focused as he thought back to the past. Rose was spellbound by the moment, a bit surprised that he'd even open up this soon to her about anything. She waited quietly for him to continue, afraid to shatter the precious moment between them. Maybe she didn't know anything after all…

"Time Lords had this rule, you see. We weren't allowed to have relationships with…lesser species. Made things complicated. No lifespan in the Universe can compare to a Time Lord and when we lose someone we love for whatever reason…nothing can tame the fury of the beast within. Time Lords were meant to be almighty beings of Time and Space and such emotions and attachments were below us anyway. But I was different and I knew it - an outcast or a rebel so-to-speak. I grew to love the human race and with them, the whole of the Universe. There's nothing more precious than life itself…"

He had to cough a bit to clear the lump from his throat and he chanced a glance at Rose, giving her a small smile when he saw her intent expression focused solely on him.

"And then I met you…Rose Tyler, the brave, adventurous nineteen-year-old human girl who not only saved my life, but stole both my hearts in just a single night..."

He was looking at her as he said it, a big smile spread out on his face that reached his eyes. Rose couldn't hold back her own embarrassed smile, blushing at his praise. Blimey, what was wrong with her? She felt like a teenage school girl in the first stages of young love all over again! Nine hundred and three years of life and still the Doctor had that effect on her.

"…and it scared the hell outta me, Rose, it really did." The Doctor's smile fell slightly, his voice wavering as he literally breathed that bit out because a part of him was still quite terrified about everything.

"But I was weak…and selfish. I didn't want to let you go. You offered me forever and damn it if I wasn't gonna take every last second of it!" He squeezed her hand and again had to clear his throat.

Rose instinctively reached out with her free hand and cupped his cheek, catching the single stray tear that managed to break free from his glistening eyes. The Doctor leaned into her caress, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"And then I lost you…Canary Wharf…I'll never forget that day. It broke me, it really did. Donna…blimey, that crazy woman! Had she not been teleported to the TARDIS after I lost the chance to say…to tell you…" Even now, after everything that they'd gone through, the Doctor couldn't spit out those three little words.

Rose was patient, listening to everything he had to say with an open heart. She knew the Doctor well enough to know that admitting his love wasn't something he did lightly. Besides, she had her memories and secrets that helped carry her through his inability to say it out loud. She knew the Doctor loved her because he…well…just _because_. After all, it was _her_ secret to hold, nobody else's. So she listened while running a reassuring thumb over the back of his hand as he clutched her fingers tightly in his.

"That separation from you was forced, out of my control, and there was nothing I could do about it to get you back…"

"'S okay, Doctor. I knew it back then, really I did. You would never put the Universe in danger, even if it meant we couldn't see each other again."

The Doctor shook his head and glared accusingly at the moons in the sky. Rose was too forgiving, he thought to himself. Maybe the incident at Canary Wharf was out of their control, but the rest of it was and would forever be his fault.

"But I left you…on that beach, I left you there, Rose. That was my choice, not yours. I let you slip away from me, thinking it was best for you. You'd be safe there and he could live the life that I never would have been able to give you. He was _me_, all the way up until he took his first breath and became a new man. He had my memories, my thoughts, my love for you…the perfect man who needed your heart and courage at his side!"

The Doctor leapt up from his perch and ran both hands through his hair, his breathing accelerating as he relived that agonizing scene all over again. He could just picture the moment when he'd turned and walked away from her, sealing his heart away with every step toward the TARDIS.

Rose was by his side in a second and she dragged him back to reality by pulling his face down to look at him.

"Hey, shhh… Doctor, I'm right here." She whispered, wiping stray tears from his eyes, "Right here, yeah?" and then she kissed his forehead and pulled him into her arms, hugging him.

"I don't deserve you, Rose." The Doctor muttered into her shoulder and she held him tighter.

"Don't say that…" she chided and kissed his hair.

They stayed like that for a minute until the Doctor was able to slightly compose himself. When he cleared his throat and sheepishly pulled back to look at her, Rose gave him a tender smile and took his hand, weaving their fingers together tightly where they belonged.

"I...I understand why you did it," she murmured, "I was human…or so we thought at the time…and you're a Time Lord. Not exactly an easy match for us…but fate has other ideas, yeah? I mean, we have this time now to make things right again. We're not gonna heal in a day, so let's just take this one step at a time. I'm willing to do that much. Are you, Doctor?"

The Doctor stood there staring at her and Rose could see so many mixed emotions cross his face that she wasn't sure what he was going to say next.

"Rose…" he whispered, "I really, really don't deserve you – no, wait a minute, let me finish," he stalled her building protest with a finger to her lips.

"I don't deserve another chance with you. I left you behind in the parallel universe and I almost let you slip through my fingers again on that dying planet. It took an act of a brilliant young girl to open my eyes and bridge a connection to get you into the TARDIS. I should have been the one to think of that, to think of something, _anything_, to get back to you! Twice, Rose, twice! I let you slip away from me twice and in the matter of, what, days? A week?"

"Eight days, I think," Rose supplied softly.

"Exactly! Eight days, and I'd given up hope of ever seeing you again both times and to be quite honest, I wanted nothing more than to-"

"-to die." Rose finished his sentence, because she knew that feeling all too well.

"Yes…" the Doctor whispered, feeling very ashamed of himself. "I was little more than a broken man without you, and I didn't want to keep going. So I don't deserve you, Rose, truly I don't. But…"

He pulled her hands to his lips and kissed every knuckle before tugging her into his arms.

"…I want this, Rose. I want to be selfish again. I want you to stay with me. I want to hold you, and kiss you, and love you… I couldn't walk away from this even if my life depended on it. I need you, Rose Tyler…and if it's another chance you're offering me, I don't care what consequences are to come, I'll take every second you give me."

Rose bit her lip and blinked back the tears that fought to break the surface and without thinking, pulled his head down to kiss him senseless. When they came apart for air, she couldn't help the shudder that crawled down her spine as she gazed into predatory eyes. She could see a hunger, a need in the Doctor's stare that made her body twist in all the right places.

In one fluid movement, the Doctor pounced on his prey, pulling her flush against him and kissing her like his life depended on that single act for survival. It was raw and primitive and Rose met him half way, her fingers clawing for purchase behind his neck to pull him impossibly closer. She wanted him, needed him, and for a minute, she couldn't think of a single reason to stop his roaming hands.

Rose was vaguely aware they were moving until she suddenly felt the bite of rough tree bark against her back. The friction only fuelled a simmering fire within her and she fought to gain control of the battle warring within her mouth, assaulting the Doctor's tongue with a fury to match his own. She won, victoriously chasing her prize into his mouth and began a bit of her own exploration.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Rose knew that this was getting a little out of control. There was something important that needed to stay hidden behind the barriers of her mind and she found the first of those barriers crumbling to the ground when the Doctor's lips broke free to trail kisses across her jaw. Sparks of fire burned her skin with every touch and when his teeth grazed the flesh just below her ear, she hissed in pleasure, shuddering as yet another barrier tumbled free.

Blimey, this had to stop! It was too soon, he wasn't ready for this… She had to stop this! No, no she didn't. She didn't want to stop it. She wanted…_needed_ this…needed him, all of him. His touch, his body, his love, his mind…_his mind_! She wanted to feel that presence, that mental caress so badly that at this point, she couldn't see the true reason why they really needed to stop. And oh god, his hands! The things they were doing to her body, touching every bit of skin beneath her shirt – at what point had she lost her leather jacket? Who cared, it was amazing!

While Rose lost herself in mindless bliss, the Doctor's hands had a field day of their own. They easily slid beneath the fabric of her shirt, skittering across her stomach, lightly scratching up her sides before smoothing back down to feather around her back. He was rewarded with a moan against his mouth as he reclaimed possession of her swollen lips. He knew where things were headed, but at this point, he really didn't care. He'd held back for far too long and to be honest, he was tired of his personal boundaries.

It was then that he felt it, the mildest tickle of telepathy echoing out, tugging at his awareness and the shock of it was like a cold slap to his face. He broke from his kiss, hands retreating from their explorations to grasp either side of her face.

Rose stared back at him, completely lost and overtaken by the need to break down the remaining barrier to let him in. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket and tugged him back to her lips as that last horrid obstruction shattered against her weakened will. She couldn't take it anymore! She needed his touch too much to care about the consequences.

When the Doctor plunged in, the very fibres of his consciousness weaving into the webbing of her soul, Rose cried out in relief, but it was short lived. Unknown to her, the golden wolf lashed out at the Doctor, severing the line between the two of them with a savage snarl. All he could see was the wolf, a flash of golden teeth within his mind and then the link was gone and Rose went limp in his arms as he struggled to catch her fall.

"Rose! Rose? Please, Rose, wake up!" the Doctor panicked, shaking her before placing a hand over her temple, searching for the link he'd almost forged with her. He couldn't find it, but he was relieved as she stirred back to consciousness.

Startled and completely confused, Rose struggled to stand back up but the motion was enough to make her head spin and the Doctor eased her down to the ground.

"Are you alright, Rose?" he asked, hands on her shoulders to keep her steady.

Rose held her throbbing head, noting that the both of them were panting heavily and then remembered their steamy activity just moments before.

"I think so, yeah," she panted, kneading her head tenderly before asking, "Did I just…faint?"

The Doctor searched her face, realizing she was asking an honest question and not trying to cover something up. Had she seen the wolf? Did she remember?

"What's the last thing you remember, Rose?" he asked softly, leaning back to give her a little breathing space.

"Well…" and then she blushed, feeling like an idiot at such a childish thing. She shouldn't be embarrassed over a simple – ok, maybe simple was putting it mildly – snog they'd had moments before.

"If memory serves correctly, we were in the middle of a snog…a very nice snog at that…and then…I dunno…I guess I fainted? Sorry, my head just really hurts right now." She winced and sat back against the tree trunk, shivering a bit without her black leather jacket.

The Doctor tried to hide his concern at her lack of memory and instead, stood up and went to get her jacket. He found it few feet away, cast aside in the dirt at some point in the middle of their frenzied activities. Giving it a good shake to clear it of any debris, he returned and helped Rose back into it. He decided it would be best to just take Rose back to the medical bay and have her examined, but Rose stilled his hand when went to pull her up.

"I don't wanna go back yet…" she whispered, peering up at him. She knew where he'd probably take her, but right now, all she wanted to was to be in his arms and enjoy the moment of peace this strange new planet had to offer them.

"Can't we just…live in the moment, just this once?"

The Doctor gazed down into her pleading eyes. Peace was something neither of them had had in a very long time and he knew they both needed a break from all the chaos around them. Bringing the back of her hand to his lips, he kissed it softly and knelt down to scoop her up in his arms, deciding the medical bay could wait for the time being. He didn't walk very far, simply finding a better tree trunk to settle against on the outskirts of the forest behind them.

As the Doctor sat down at the base of the trunk, he pulled Rose into his lap, her back against his chest. He laced one arm around her waist, twining his fingers with hers as his chin rested on her shoulder. His other hand swept softly through her hair, tucking blonde strands behind her ear. He let it roam across her shoulder, down her arm, and then repeated the action over and over.

Rose sighed contently against him and she gazed into the valley stretched out below them. The moonlight made everything glow and the sparkling stream several meters downhill gurgled happily through the tiny rocks scattered about its path. A gentle breeze kicked up and stirred random bushes and shrubs to life, their leaves dancing to the music of the night. It was beautiful…and as time slowly trickled by, the Doctor held Rose closely in his arms until well after sunrise.

* * *

End Author's Note: ...Happy Birthday enchantment! ;) R&R :)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

* * *

Three days had passed since landing on Foxenbirg and the Doctor felt the restlessness he often got when staying in one place for too long. He'd spent countless hours helping the Empaths set up a suitable camp that would one day become the building blocks to a grand Empire in years to come. Now it was time to step back and let them grow.

On the morning of their planned departure, Mae was the first to seek out the Doctor. She found him sitting on a log by the large camp fire as he gently prodded the dying embers back to life.

"Good morning, Mae!" the Doctor greeted with a warm smile.

"And to you as well," Mae replied as she sat next to him on the log. She watched as he added more dead wood to feed the hungry flames and couldn't help the sad sigh at the thought that he'd be leaving within a couple hours, if not sooner.

"I'm going to miss you, Doctor. Will I see you again?"

The Doctor paused from his work and turned to her, giving her a small smile in return. "Oh, I'm sure we'll meet again someday." He tried to sound reassuring but then again, he wasn't sure if giving her false hope was the best thing to do. After all, how many times had he broken promises to friends and loved ones?

Mae simply smiled back and continued to watch as he finished poking around the fire.

"There we are, good as new." They lapsed back into silence and then shortly afterwards, the Doctor excused himself when Rose had caught his eye in the distance.

For a better part of an hour, Mae sat quietly as she watched the camp come to life. Her people, along with the Doctor and his companions milled about as they ate and struck up conversations about past adventures as well as their foreseeable future. She noted how Don seemed so drawn to Jack, the Empath following the Captain around like a secret admirer. He'd tried to play the part of loyal friend, but it never fooled her for a second – the man was infatuated.

She then turned her attentions to the Doctor and Rose, who were drifting apart from the rest of the crowd to a tree farther back. They were talking and it warmed her to see a real smile light up Rose's face at some funny remark the Doctor had made. Mae averted her eyes when the Time Lord reached out to cup the woman's face and kiss her. Of course, he was _still _kissing her five minutes later…

Giving them some privacy, Mae focused her attention back to Don. He was fairly young for an Empath, merely in his early forties; Empaths had an extended lifespan of roughly three-hundred years, after all. For as long as she could remember, the man had always been there as a sort-of brother to her and some of the other children on their ship after an illness had taken the life of their parents. Of course, Mae had very little memory of her parents before their passing, but Don was always a constant in her life and she loved him dearly for it.

However, Mae knew it in her heart that Don never truly fit in with the rest of her people. He'd been more of an outcast because of his…preferences. Don loved everyone, and that included aliens, something that her people did not approve of. It was true that the Empaths had travelled in a cramped ship for well over a hundred years and with that travelling came maintenance repairs, restock trips, and other reasons to dock and traverse among the many cultures of the Universe. And Don loved them all… the cultures, the people, the many different worlds. He was never meant to be stranded like this and that's exactly what would happen if she didn't take this next step and free him from his duty to his people.

Oh, but it would be hard to let him go, dear, sweet Don! He was the closest thing to family she had left. At merely six years old, she knew what life lay before her and she wanted that friendship close by her side every step of the way… She was born knowing who and what she was within her Race because it was built into her genetics. So was it her fault for wanting to be just a little bit selfish in this? But no…Mae could never do that to her friend. She loved him enough to give him the freedom that he truly deserved.

"Don." Mae waved her hand to grab his attention away from Jack. The pair were right in the middle of a group of men, everyone laughing and eating away at a hearty breakfast of freshly cooked meat and vegetables from the TARDIS's hefty supplies. After this last meal, they'd be hunting and cooking on their own so everyone made the most of what was given.

Don waved back and separated from the group with a laugh, having caught the end of a joke as he joined Mae on her log.

"And how are you this fine morning, dear Mae?" Don chatted happily enough. He knew that the Time Travellers were set to head out soon, but he tried to keep his smile and mood in check. Mae wasn't fooled in the least bit.

"I'm well, thank you! And you?" she returned, giving him her full attention, and that also included her Empathic sense to read into his soul as he answered.

"Good, good. Going to be an interesting day today, eh? So much to do, but all the time in the world to do it! New planet…new home!" He smiled and while it reached his eyes, it didn't reach his heart. He was very good with his acting, but Mae was skilled with the art of soul searching, a natural born talent that would only improve with time and practice.

"So tell me, Don…what do you think of our rescuers?" Mae cut right to the chase, wanting to hear his opinion of the strange aliens who'd done so much for them.

"Ha, they're a right mess, I think, specially the Doctor and Rose. I can feel the attraction they have for each other rolling off of them in waves, but there's so much fear and pain twisted in between it all that it really makes the head hurt." Don tapped his temple with a finger and a shake of his head.

"Indeed," Mae agreed. "They have a lot of secrets hidden inside…although Rose more so than him. Sometimes when I look at her…I can sense a wolf hidden in the shadows, something dark that shouldn't be there, but it is… I think the Doctor is the only one who can make her better somehow…" She realized she'd been staring at the couple as she spoke and drew her gaze back to Don. They were **still** kissing…and that was an understatement!

"I can sense a dark shadow, but nothing more. Like I said, hurts too much to dig that deep," Don murmured, ducking his head away from said oblivious lovers.

"And Jack? What do you see?"

Now Don hesitated, cautious about where this conversation might be headed. Mae was merely a child from an outsider's point of view, but Empaths were far more advanced in development when it came to matters of the mind and soul. While this type of conversation would be inappropriate for say, a human child, Mae was far more intelligent. Still, talking about this wasn't an easy subject, even for Don.

"I see…a man," Don observed Jack as he spoke quietly, "a man…who loves everyone around him. A man of courage and strength, that's what he is. I also see sadness in him…but I don't know all the reasons behind it."

Don watched as Jack easily conversed with the men around the camp fire. He was in the middle of telling a story about one of his many adventures in early days. Mae followed his gaze and a soft smile touched her lips.

"Do you like him, Don?" Mae asked abruptly, earning a startled gasp beside her. She simply grinned and tried again. "Do you…_fancy_ Captain Jack?" she tipped her head to the side, tongue in cheek as she studied his face and again read his soul for what it was.

"I know you do…" she added when he spluttered for words, "and he's going to need someone now. You know it. Rose was never his to have and now the Doctor is here. Jack's going to let her go without a fight. He cared about her, but what they had was out of need, not love. You've looked into his heart like I have, you know he's going to be alone again…"

Don swallowed and cleared his throat, not for the first time unsettled by Mae's acute empathetic skills.

"What are you suggesting?" He croaked, glancing between Jack and Mae, and then to the Doctor and Rose before his eyes came back to Mae.

"Go to him… He's lost a partner, but with you…he'll gain so much more. Besides…I think he fancies you too." She elbowed him to emphasize her meaning, her face splitting into a wide grin.

Now Don stood up, a mixture of disbelief, joy, and then sadness on his face. He knelt down in front of her and took her hands in his.

"But what about you? What about the people? We've so few left here, I'm needed here!"

Mae shook her head and pulled her hands free, placing them on either of his cheeks instead with a gentle smile. "He needs you, Don. GO. That's an order, not a request. I'll miss you, but you'll always be with us, with me…in our hearts."

The Doctor's voice rang out, effectively ending their discussion. "Jack, time we headed back, I think!"

Jack extracted himself from the crowd and gave the Doctor a cheery salute. Mae took the opportunity to grab Don's hand and drag him to the Doctor's side.

"Doctor," she spoke in a no-nonsense tone of voice, "Don is going to go with you this time. I won't have it any other way." She then motioned him to kneel down so she could whisper in his ear. "And he fancies Jack," she whispered for the Doctor's ears alone.

The Doctor glanced up at Don with an arched brow and smirked. He'd known that bit of info all along.

"Well, can't argue with the boss, now can we? Welcome aboard, Don!" The Doctor shook Don's hand with a beaming smile and then pointed toward the TARDIS. "Got a lot of work ahead of us. Allons-y!"

The last ten minutes on planet Foxenbirg were bittersweet and the Doctor would commit every second to memory. Mae had been the hardest to let go of. He owed her so much more than he would ever be able to pay back. Many tears and hugs later, the TARDIS doors finally sealed shut and then the dematerialization sequence initiated. With a final wheeze, the precious blue box vanished into the Time Vortex. Mae would never forget the man in the brown pinstripe suit.

* * *

Captain Jack Harkness sat on a stool in the medical bay, keeping quietly to himself while the Doctor was busy with Rose. The Time Lord was doing a full-blown medical exam on Rose, using the excuse that he needed to re-check her vitals to make sure everything was back to normal after the living computer incident. Of course, he'd also taken a couple blood and tissue samples for the _same_ reason, though Jack knew better.

Rose begrudgingly sat there, knowing that everything was fine but humouring the Doctor nonetheless. After their departure from Foxenbirg, she was actually expecting the man to pounce on her for scans and tests. He'd managed to tamp down his worry until the TARDIS was safely within the Time Vortex. Then he'd practically chased her to the exam table like some sort of mad scientist. So there she sat, fingering her gold wristband in utter boredom while the Doctor flitted about, doing what he did best – working.

"So…" Rose huffed, quite tired of sitting there doing nothing. "What now?" To her annoyance, neither man bothered to answer her question.

She glanced at Jack, wondering why he was still hanging around when he had other…obligations to attend to. She had to admit that she was happy Don was staying with them. At the same time, she felt a slight sting about his sudden permanence and what it meant. Rose wasn't stupid. Jack would want to head back to Torchwood Seven as soon as possible. The team needed him…and with Don by his side, Jack now had a suitable replacement to take her position. But there was more to it than that and she knew it. Things were most certainly going to get a bit awkward.

Rose tried to push those thoughts aside but then she realized exactly _why_ Jack was sitting in the room with them. He'd been staring at her deep in thought for quite some time, almost as if he was debating something that really needed _saying_. She suddenly felt a bit sick.

Fixing Jack with a pointed death glare, Rose silently shook her head, warning him to keep his mouth shut. Now, of all times, was not the moment to come clean about past encounters!

The Doctor cleared his throat, peering at the two of them out of the corner of his glasses from the paper he'd just been checking for scan results.

"Do you two need a minute?" He eyed them both from under his rims, clearly feeling the thick tension building between the two. He wasn't blind; he'd seen the silent war brewing as the minutes ticked by.

"I could just, you know, step outside a minute…" the Doctor suggested offhandedly with a casual point of his thumb toward the door. He didn't know what the issue was between them, but clearly it wasn't something they wanted to discuss openly around him.

"Yeah," Rose piped up rather quickly, "can you give us a moment, please?" She levelled a glare at Jack, never once taking her eyes off him and the Doctor proceeded to leave the room. The door shut and Rose counted to ten before launching herself off the exam table.

"Not a word!" she hissed at Jack, stabbing him with a finger to make her point very clear.

"If not now, then when? He has to know, Rose, you know that." Jack countered with equal force, never one to back down from her aggression. He knew Rose better than anyone else, maybe even a little better than the Doctor if he was so bold to point out.

"Not now, Jack, I can't do it right now, it's too soon!" she pleaded, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"What's the point in waiting, Rose? You need him and he needs you too. You've been waiting fifty years to find him again and it's pointless to keep these secrets any longer. Why can't you tell him? Hell, you won't even tell me a damn thing about your past so what does that make me to you after everything we've been through? If you can't tell him something as simple as this, I will!"

Rose grabbed his arm when he went to turn from her and pushed him back against the wall. The air immediately charged with a tension so thick it was almost suffocating. How many times had they been in this exact position in the middle of a fight, only for things to twist into heated passion? She knew he was right…she needed release from the stress and the Doctor was right there waiting for her, but he was still so far out of reach. Jack would never understand that.

"Jack…I can't…it's _not_ simple. I love him, you know that. Don't you understand how much this is going to hurt him? He's a Time Lord and this isn't just an act of sex! It isn't even sex because it goes much, much deeper than that. To love a Time Lord…" Her voice cracked, and she stepped back, covering her face with both hands as a sob caught in her throat.

Jack raked a hand through his hair in agitation, taking in Rose's state of distress with a mixture of guilt and sorrow. He hated to see her like this, but things were not going to be easier for her until she learned to open up. Ok, so she had secrets that the Doctor wasn't suppose to know about – yet – but that didn't mean she couldn't talk to _him_ about it. He'd been at her side for fifty-frigging-years and he was tired of the guessing games. He knew her heart would always belong to the Doctor, but he still cared about her. She had to learn to trust him!

"Rose," Jack sighed heavily, glaring up at the ceiling before reaching out to pull her into his arms in a comforting hug. "…help me understand it. You have your reasons for keeping things from the Doctor, I get that much. But why me? Why can't you talk to me? I'm your friend and you know you can trust me."

"Things are just so complicated…" Rose replied quietly, stifling sobs as best she could.

"Enough with the 'complicated' excuses!" Jack pushed her at arms length from him with a rough shake. "You _need_ him, damn it, Rose! Why can't you go to him?" he barked harshly. No more games.

"Because I can't, alright?" Rose tore away from his arms and yelled, pouring out all her frustration without thinking. "Somewhere in his future and my past, he found a way to the parallel universe and a connection was forged between us. If a Time Lord is fortunate enough to fall in love and act upon those feelings, they form a mind-link with their mate - a permanent bonding! Gallifreyan culture is based off of telepathic touch and that's what we almost have right now!

"When he came to me on that stormy night, a night that was the best and worst night of my life, he only forged a partial bond with me. I don't even know how that's possible, but Susan said he must have had his reasons for it. Maybe my mind wasn't strong enough back then to handle the potency of a full telepathic bond."

Rose floated around the room in a trance-like state as she spoke, hugging herself one minute and then wringing her hands in agitation the next.

"Whatever his reasons were, he came, he loved, he left. I was left with little more than a broken heart and a baby. Imagine how hard it was to face my human-doctor after knowing what I'd done. I betrayed him that night! I never even told him…and in all honesty until I was three months along, I couldn't even believe it had happened. I deluded myself into thinking it was all just a really mucked up dream."

It then dawned on Rose what she'd just blurted out in emotional frustration. Her eyes immediately snapped to Jack in shock that he'd managed to push her over the edge like that, but then a movement from the door's small window to the right caught her wide eyes. The window was clear, but with a spike of fear, she knew exactly who'd been standing there seconds before. The Doctor had chosen the wrong time to come back to the medical bay. Or maybe he'd been standing just beside the door the whole time. Either way, Rose felt suddenly faint. He knew…oh god, he _knew_.

The world was crashing down on her lungs as Rose stumbled to the door in a panicked frenzy but there was no one on the other side, the hall empty. Stepping back in, she spun around and slumped against the door, feeling sick.

"This is your fault!" she accused Jack with her eyes to the ground, but the rest of her words were interrupted when two distinct ringtones rang out from their pockets. Feeling numb and far from stable, Rose dug into her pocket and pulled her mobile out. She knew who it was without bothering to look at the screen; Torchwood was calling.

Her eyes locked with Jack's. No matter how chaotic the situation, there was one thing they both understood when it came to Torchwood. The team would never call them in unless it was an emergency they couldn't handle without their leader and second-in-command. Therefore, there had to be serious reasons for them to track down Jack and Rose. It made Rose wonder just how on earth their team had managed to trace them within the Time Vortex in the first place, but that wasn't important right then.

Maybe the distraction was a good thing, Rose thought to herself bitterly. In times of stress, it was always instinctual to fall back on training and lock her heart up in the safety of the black box she'd built around it so long ago. Right now, things were spiralling out of her control and she wasn't able to pick up the pieces. Better to become the Agent. As an Agent, she could function enough to survive another day of complete hell.

"We'll discuss this later," Rose growled and then she vanished from the medical bay with a flick of her wrist, her gold band activating as she envisioned her chosen destination for a Vortex Jump.

She flitted into the console room a millisecond later. Thankfully, the Doctor was nowhere in sight. Rose wasn't exactly prepared to face him and only hoped she could avoid him for the time being. However, they needed to get to Torchwood as soon as possible.

Approaching the console, Rose placed her hand on a lever and mentally sought out the ship, asking for her full attention. The TARDIS gave her a gentle hum, acknowledging her touch and patiently waited for a command. With the skill of many years' practice, Rose began to set the coordinates for Torchwood, typing in a specific code and then setting the date to exactly seven days after leaving Earth with Jack. Rose then reinforced the date by thinking about the exact time she wanted the TARDIS to travel to.

The TARDIS hummed appreciatively and gave Rose the go ahead to begin the landing sequence. A couple buttons, knobs, levers, and dials later, and the ship settled to the ground right outside of Torchwood Seven. Rose thanked the ship with a gentle pat to a coral strut before heading outside, not bothering to wait for Jack. The second she stepped into the sunlight, she jumped straight into her waiting bedroom within the building. It was moments like these when she thanked her lucky star for the prized golden band on her arm.

* * *

Rose stood in the centre of her small bedroom inside Torchwood Seven. The lights were off with the exception of a modified sun-lamp nestled in the left corner of her room. She had no windows, just four plain white walls and a solid steel door which was currently sealed with three deadbolts from top to bottom. When Jack had the building constructed, he'd opted for an underground safe-house complete with bomb-proof walls and doors. It was built to withstand just about any form of attack.

Unlike previous Torchwood buildings, this one also had a section of living quarters to house the team if any of them ever needed shelter. However, only she and Jack lived within Torchwood itself. Jack was always one to encourage his team members to go out and have a life outside of work whenever possible. Life was too preciously short to waste away within the depressing walls of Torchwood.

With a small sigh, Rose went over to the sun-lamp and gingerly caressed the sapling tree growing under its searing light. The silver leaves of the tree shimmered beautifully as she adjusted the small pot. Testing the soil, she deemed it necessary to feed and water the precious plant and went to her small dorm-fridge to fetch the needed ingredients. This was a task she took seriously because the plant was so important to her. It was a sapling saved from Gallifrey itself, given to her by Susan just before the planet burned. It required special food and care that the Earth could not provide and Rose tended to its every need like an obsessed mother hen guarding her nest.

At a young age of fifty years, the tree stood three feet tall and looked more like a twig with a few small branches of silver leaves. The bark was a very light tan due to its age, but she knew it would fade to gold in another century or two. Now that the TARDIS was back in her life, Rose was suddenly anxious to move the tree to the ship as soon as possible. The vessel would be the perfect home for her tree to thrive inside one of the garden rooms.

After tending to the tree, Rose then went straight to her wardrobe and gathered up a clean Torchwood uniform to dress into. She toed off her trainers and shimmied out of her denim jeans before shedding her simple white t-shirt, dropping the garment with the rest on the tiled floor. She kicked it aside and began re-dressing into tight black jeans followed by a hot pink shirt. She then slipped on her favourite black leather jacket, pulling the zip halfway before loading random pockets with her mobile, spare cash, and other random bits she may need while on the job.

Pausing at her floor-length mirror, Rose examined herself in the mirror. She reached over to flip on the overhead lights and took a moment to run a comb through her hair, deciding to keep it down before digging through a random drawer to find her make-up. She really didn't need it, but a light touch-up was in order.

Finally, Rose turned to glare the last part of her get-up. Chucked in the corner by the door was a pair of knee-high black boots with a good bit of heel. This was it, the final piece of armour to put on before becoming someone else entirely. It took her a second to slip them on, the weight of the world settling heavily on her shoulders once she was done. She was now ready to leave the safety of her room.

Rose took a second to compose her features, carefully locking her heart away to become Rose Marion Tyler, Second Commanding Officer of Torchwood Seven. Her parents would be proud. With that passing thought, she unbolted the door and stepped out into Hell.

* * *

End Author's Note: THANK YOU for the reviews :D


	12. Chapter 12

TORCHWOOD spoiler alert. If you have not watched Torchwood and plan to do so in the near future, this could spoil a little bit for you. Not much, but... You can read this story without Torchwood background but a few things (might) confuse you. I don't think it will but just in case, that's the warning you get! THANK YOU to all the lovely reviews 3

Chapter 12

* * *

Torchwood Seven was a multi-level underground facility built for the sole purpose of protecting Earth from alien threats. Its staff included seven professionally trained members picked for their special skills and extraterrestrial backgrounds; in other words, they'd been at the wrong place at the wrong time when disaster struck and Jack and Rose had been there to pick up the pieces.

Currently, Rose's staff included a young woman by the name of Sonera Thompson and two older men, George Bently and Adam Sholtz. Her team specialized in weapons collection and nullifying the target as humanely as possible, though Sonera was also the head computer tech that did most of her work within Torchwood itself.

The last two staff members, Jessica and her husband Kyle Rogers, worked alongside Jack in most investigations outside of Torchwood. Their main jobs consisted of gathering outside Intel while covering up their footprints by any means necessary. Even though Earth was well aware of alien existence, Torchwood worked strictly undercover; not even the government knew of its resurrected existence. Rose understood Jack's obsessive need to keep their work a secret from all outside sources — he'd never forgiven himself for Torchwood Three's destruction.

Oh, but those were unsettling thoughts that Rose really didn't want to dwell on. She entered the lift and punched the button for the top floor of underground-torchwood. It was high time she found out what type of threat they were dealing with. Jack might have found a replacement for her but until _she_said otherwise, Rose Tyler was still second-in-command and had a job to do.

A quiet bell announced her arrival when the lift reached the top floor. Rose stepped out and immediately strode over to Sonera and Jessica, startling the women by her unexpected arrival.

"Rose!" they cried in unison.

Both women were huddled together by a massive glass display screen that hung from the ceiling in the far corner of the open room. Earth's technology was constantly advancing and ordinary computer monitors had long since been replaced by glass touch panels that could be read from either side of the screen. It was almost like looking out a window, only it displayed tons of data at one time in several sections. This one was huge, stretching from floor to ceiling along the corner wall.

"What's all this, then?" Rose questioned, reading the screen with interest as her co-workers gawked at her.

Rose knew enough about Cardiff and the Rift to recognize that the numbers displayed in the far right corner were of major concern. The Rift was active, and judging by recorded notes, the disturbances had increased over the course of the last five days. The problem, however, was that up until five days ago, the Rift had been _sealed shut_since the year 2010. Jack always kept a monitor up for any activity as an added precaution; now Rose understood why.

Sonera snapped back to her work, recovering from the initial shock of Rose's sudden appearance. She ought to be used to it be by now; Rose was always popping in and out unexpectedly. It was just that seven days ago, Rose and Jack had vanished off the face of the Earth all together with Jack leaving back-up instructions if they didn't return within a certain amount of time.

"Yes, well," clearing her throat, Sonera ran a few figures over the wireless keyboard sitting on a small table to the left, "as you can see, the Rift split open five days ago. We had a Weevil episode on the first day, followed by an earthquake of sorts. The weevils for the most part are safely contained, but there's a strong disturbance coming from this building here," she pointed at the map in the centre of the glass panel where a red dot pulsed over a random building, "just off of Carisbrooke Way. If the numbers spiked too high, we were going to try and track the two of you down. We've never dealt with Rift activity before!"

"Speak for yourself," Jack said abruptly, stepping out of the lift with Don in tow.

"Alright everyone, listen up! I want everyone assembled in my office pronto! No time for questions, Jessica, just go." Jack ordered, pointing the women to his office before ringing in the other three men who were currently down in the holding cells with the Weevils.

Rose didn't follow the women immediately, instead opting to study the screen more closely. Jack sent Don to follow the others to his office before joining Rose at the screen. She reached for the touch panel, her fingers ghosting over a few icons to further enhance the map of Cardiff.

"Hmm…" she hummed in thought, spinning the map around with just a finger to the screen before enlarging a specific section. "If I were back in the parallel universe, that's where the new Torchwood building would be," she stated, tapping at the enlarged building where the red dot continued to flash.

"Think there's a connection?" Jack asked, studying the readings on the right with concern.

"Probably not, it's a whole Universe apart." She muttered more to herself, though it did make her wonder with the Rift suddenly open like that.

"But didn't you say the Doctor found a way back there? What if it had something to do with this?"

Rose shrugged, not really sure of an answer to his questions. Even she had no idea how he'd ended up in her past...

"We'll get to that point when the time comes, yeah?" she said instead, turning to head to his office but Jack held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

"You took us back in Time. Why?" he asked quietly. They'd been gone from Earth for almost two weeks but Rose had taken them back by a week.

"I wanted to make sure we caught this issue before things got out of hand. Better to be prepared than caught by surprise." Rose stated, though it was only the partial truth. The real reason behind her motives was to tend to her tree. It was another of her hidden secrets and not even Jack knew about its existence. Nobody was ever allowed in her room for any reason whatsoever. Jack seemed to accept her excuse and they headed to his office for the meeting.

First, introductions were made. Everyone was stunned speechless when Jack broke the news that Rose was resigning from her position within Torchwood. He opted to leave her second-in-command spot open for debate, not really wanting to choose a replacement based on favourites. Only the best got the job, so it was now up to his team to prove themselves worthy.

Don was welcomed warmly enough, but Rose couldn't help but notice the tension from the staff at such an unexpected announcement. She couldn't blame them; in their eyes, Jack and Rose had always been a constant within Torchwood, a '_thing_' so-to-speak. No one could imagine one without the other. Now, suddenly, she was leaving…  
After that was settled, Jack then moved on to the business of Rift activity and briefed the team on its past history as well as what to expect from it now that it was active again.

New monitors were to be set up to trace the extent of the damage it might have already caused and everyone would be working double shifts until they knew exactly what they were dealing with. He considered this a top priority and everyone agreed with him.  
Finally, a plan of action was set into place for the next few days. Sonera and Jessica would work to jam the radars and hack into Unit's systems to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. This would also be done to any other Agency monitoring Cardiff for alien activity, assuring the Torchwood team a clear path to investigate the Rift unhindered.

While Jack always claimed his mission was to protect Earth from alien threats, Rose knew his real goal in all of this was to keep dangerous alien technology out of the wrong hands. The Rift was a powerfully dangerous energy source and he needed to find out what forced its resurrection and possibly find a way to close it.

Lucky for Torchwood, Sonera was a mastermind of computer hacking and she'd yet to disappoint Jack in her illegal activities. Once she and Jessica nullified the competition, the rest of the team would head over to inspect the building on Carisbrooke Way. Jack opted for Sonera and Don to stay behind at Torchwood. Don wasn't trained for self-defence and knew nothing of Earth so Jack felt it best he stay behind for the time being. Sonera, however, was needed to man the comm units and monitor computer and CCTV activity.

When Jack was finished with his lecture, he dismissed everyone except Don and Sonera, though Rose remained in the room as well. Jack had no power over her when it came to orders and it was a fact he'd accepted a long time ago. In many ways, she reminded him of Gwen in all her fiery glory but Rose was an equal where all of Torchwood affairs were concerned.

"Sonera, I know this isn't going to make much sense, but do you think it's possible to route a connection to the Rift's centre to make a phone call?" Jack asked, a knowing look passing between him and Rose.

Sonera quirked an eyebrow at him in question, but thought about it for a second, humming as she pondered the idea. "From what you told us about this anomaly, it's a rift through time and space, correct?" she asked, and Jack gave her a nod.

"So you're suggesting that it's possible to call someone by phone in…another time, perhaps?" Jack just smiled, never one to give all his secrets away. His team had learned from the first day there were just some things you had to trust him on and ignore the rest of it. This was one of those 'smiles' and Sonera cleared her throat, knowing she wasn't going to get any more info than that.

"I'll have to tweak a few networks a bit, but if the energy increases to a certain degree, I don't see why that wouldn't be possible…" She summed, eyeing Jack thoughtfully.

"Great!" Jack stated, patting her on the shoulder. "In about six and half days from now I need you to place an emergency phone call to our phones," he motioned between himself and Rose as he spoke, "even if we're still here. Think you can handle that?"

Sonera gave him a pointed stare but nodded, hugging her briefing folder to her chest. Jack gave her his best grin and winked at her.

"Just trust me on this. I don't care whether we're here or not. I need you to make that call." Jack said firmly. Rose didn't miss how his stance shifted, the Captain putting his authority into play in silent challenge. It worked, as always. She simply watched in mild amusement as Sonera backed off and excused herself to get to work.

"All bark and no bite…" Rose muttered for his ears alone and Jack simply grinned at her as she playfully slapped his shoulder. When Don shuffled his feet to get their attention, Rose tried to suck in her smirk and remain professional.

"Don," Jack faced his newest recruit with another wink. "Since you're new to all this, you'll be shadowing Jessica for a few weeks. She'll help get you set up and show you around, both here in Torchwood and throughout Cardiff. She's also your temporary team leader so follow her orders, she won't steer you wrong!" Don gave a nod of acknowledgment and strode purposefully out of the office. However, five seconds later, he was sheepishly crawling back for directions to the top floor again, not exact sure where he really was within the base. Jack cheerfully gave him a small pocket map to help him out.  
Rose wondered if maybe Don was homesick because he'd been so quiet and seemed a little withdrawn from everything since their departure from Foxenbirg. Then again, maybe it was his way of giving her and Jack time to adjust to all the changes soon to take place. She'd be leaving Jack shortly to travel with the man she loved, a thought that brought the Doctor back to the forefront of her mind.

"Did you see him?" she asked when the room was empty of everyone else. Jack turned to his desk, picking up a random stack of papers.

"No, no sign of him when we left the TARDIS. Don was in his room the whole time so…" he sighed, knowing things for Rose were most likely going to get ugly at some point when it came time to confront the Time Lord. Jack wouldn't let her face it alone, though. Technically, he was still part of it all.

"Then it was him at the window…" Rose stated blankly. Just how much had the Doctor heard on the other side of that door? She'd really hoped it'd been Don at the time but he wouldn't have had a reason to flee the scene to begin with.

Jack walked over and sat down at his desk, absently gathering more papers together when a thought occurred to him. "He wouldn't leave us — _you _— behind again, would he? He's all alone in the TARDIS…"

Rose jumped at the suggestion, her heart lurching in fear. Her eyes glazed over as she mentally sought the TARDIS, begging for some reassurance. The ship responded with a gentle caress, letting her know she was still there. The TARDIS _belonged_to Rose, just as much as she did to the Doctor. She would not allow him to leave her behind like before.

"No, she wouldn't let him even if he tried. I don't think he has though…the TARDIS would make a fuss about it." Rose said affectionately, her eyes still zoned out in mental contact with the ship.

"Right…" Jack replied, pulling Rose's attention back to him as he tapped a finger on his desk, observing her with interest.

"What?" she asked, recognizing a spark in his eye which made her blush.  
Jack just stared at her for a minute longer and then he sighed, leaning forward with his elbows propped on his desk, resting his chin on twined fingers. "…I'm going to miss you, Rose."

Rose ducked her head, biting her bottom lip and then her features softened as she came around his desk to reach down and touch his face, pulling him to his feet.

Dear Captain Jack Harkness… he'd been by her side for all of fifty years and never once had he ever asked for anything more than what she'd been able to give. She couldn't call it love because she loved another man entirely…but she cared about Jack, and he'd always been there to help her pick up the pieces every time she fell from grace. She didn't deserve him, but still he stayed.

For a moment, Rose wasn't sure of how to comfort him, but Jack made the decision for her, opting to kiss her forehead gently before wrapping his arms around her in a tender hug. He was giving her a clean way out of this. From the moment the Doctor stepped back into her life, he'd relinquished all claims to her without hesitation. Rose wasn't sure how to feel inside about any of it, so she took what he offered and shoved the rest of it from her mind. For now, she would take things one breath at a time…

* * *

The Doctor glared at the crackling fire burning within the hearth of a large fireplace. Somehow, in the midst of his panic, his legs led him to the comforting confines of the TARDIS's library. So there he sat in a large comfy chair, staring into the orange-hot flames as if they could consume his twisted thoughts. Sometimes he wished that life would only be that simple; just let the fire swallow him up.

The baby was his… His future and her past. This was madness! Oh, none of it made any sense, but what did it matter anyway? He wouldn't accept any of it, not a single word of what he'd accidently heard. Easier to deal with reality if one refused to accept it in the first place. Sweet, blissful denial in all its brilliance! The perfect escape. _His_perfect getaway.

The TARDIS hummed her disapproval but the Doctor ignored her, choosing to wallow in his stricken state instead. His ship had other ideas, though, and the locks to the corridor snapped shut, sealing the Time Lord in the room. For several hours, it never even registered to him that he was now locked within the library and in time, he even managed to drift off into a fitful sleep due to his mental exhaustion. When the Doctor finally stirred from his brooding state, his Time Sense caught up with him with a hard mental slap. Hours? It'd been more like **days**!

_Rassilon_, he was depressed! How'd he end up in such a condition? Irate with himself, the Doctor leapt from his chair and ran to the door, but the locks held fast. Now that he was alert, several neglected things caught up with him at once. Depression in Time Lords was a bit different than with humans. It cut off his Time sense, shut down his digestive system, and caused extreme exhaustion that generally forced the sufferer into long bouts of fitful sleep.

"Open the door!" the Doctor demanded, rattling the door forcefully but it refused to budge. "First you throw me out on Rovinrukbar and now you lock me in the library…what's wrong with you?!" The TARDIS remained mute. While she had good reason to keep him confined, she wasn't about to explain herself.

The Doctor swore — something he'd done more often in the past couple weeks than his whole life — and stalked back over to his chair, sinking down dejectedly. His stomach growled as bodily functions began to function properly again. It peeved him to no end when the TARDIS had the audacity to supply him with a measly granola bar and a glass of water on the side table next to his chair.

"Prisoner now, am I?" he growled, swiping the bar off the table. "What did I ever do to you to deserve this? What about Rose? Where is she, huh? You have her locked in her room as well? And Jack? Don?" No, of course not! Nobody else was on this ship but him.

The Doctor choked on his granola bar when the TARDIS gave him that answer. Everyone was gone? They'd left him there? Wait a second! That wasn't right. They were still in the Time Vortex. But again, the TARDIS disagreed. They were parked outside of Torchwood and had been there for five days now. Rose could pilot her ship just as well as the Doctor and there'd been an emergency call to attend to. Of course, the Doctor would have noticed all this had he not been otherwise preoccupied.

"Then let me out!" the Doctor bellowed, throwing his food on the ground. His ship hummed comfortingly, trying to sooth her Time Lord. In time, he would be released. He had to wait, be patient. It was almost _time_… The walls were bending, Time was calling, and soon it would come to pass. The Doctor would wait. The Doctor would relax.

"Fine! …have it your way," he spat, though his voice lacked fire. To be honest, he just really missed Rose. He wanted to find her and hold her close and never, ever let her go. Memories and confessions be damned, he just wanted his Rose. The more he thought about it, the more he realized his need for her.

So he sat back in his chair and waited, glaring at the crackling fire while his mind consumed his soul with questions and worries and sadness and guilt. _Rose…_

* * *

Rose sat in a booth by herself on a corner lot chippy not far from Torchwood Seven. It'd been five days since her return to Earth with Jack and he'd finally managed to throw her out of the building to take a much needed break. The problem with that was now she had free time to focus, once again, on the Doctor.

She gazed out the window from her seat, her eyes drawn to the blue police box sitting just a few blocks over from the chippy, clear as day for the world to see. For the millionth time that week, she probed the TARDIS for answers, wanting to know if the Time Lord was alright because she hadn't seen him in days. The reply was the same. The Doctor just needed some time, be patient.

_Time my arse_! Rose thought miserably. She wanted to see him. Her heart ached with the need to be near him again…but he was still sour or upset or brooding. Whatever the problem with him was, the TARDIS thought it best if she gave him some space. So she waited…and waited…and waited.

* * *

Just as Rose and Jack predicted, the Rift activity spiked on the sixth day. Sonera scrambled to keep their competitors at bay, sending off false readings to different locations and setting as many traps as possible so that her team could work freely. However, they all knew it would only be a matter of time before Unit and the government got smart.

"Ok team, this is where we split up! George, Kyle and Adam, you three have the basement. Rose, you're with me. Jessica, I need visual down here!" Jack ordered and his ear piece crackled to life as Jessica barked back at him, "I'm working on it, Jack!"

Every monitor screamed the point of interest was somewhere within the random building located on Carisbrook Way, so there they were, snooping around the abandoned warehouse in search of anything that had to do with the disturbance.

The team split ranks according to Jack's instructions. Normally Rose would have her own team, but Jack wasn't about to let her out of his sight. His instincts still sang that she had some tie to this anomaly. To his surprise, she didn't fight his order. She simply gave him a sharp nod and followed his lead.

Rose crept behind Jack, proceeding cautiously down the open corridor of the rickety old building. The place had been empty for years and it really gave her the creeps. To her, it felt like ghosts were lurking in the shadows at every corner - and was it just her, or was she hearing whispers in the air?

"Jack…this place…it doesn't feel right." She murmured, gun held firmly in one hand. While Jack held the real thing, she carried a small tranquilizer gun for good measure. Rose Tyler would never shoot to kill…but she wasn't stupid to work without some sort of defence. Besides, her darts were potent. She could drop an enemy in a second with a single dose and she never missed her target.

"Just keep walking. I'm getting strong readings on the second floor, a spike in energy activity. Jessica, what's on your end?" Jack asked, stopping at the base of a staircase.

Rose glanced around the building, her small flashlight now useless in the dim morning light shining through a couple fogged windows. When Jack made to move up the stairs, she followed, watching his back until they made it to the next floor.

"I have visual, but only one camera is functional and it's located in the basement." Jessica's voice hummed in everyone's ear piece. "I see George, Kyle, and Adam, but that's it. I'm sorry, Jack."

"Okay, what about Rift levels?" Jack wanted as much info as he could get. His team was treading blindly and he hated that. The alien tracker he held in one hand indicated the source of activity was somewhere just up ahead in the next room but from his vantage point, the second floor was just as deserted as the rest of the building. Alien tech could be just as deceiving though, so anything could be just beyond the next set of doors.

"Looks like activity building on the second floor. I'm tracking your movements from your mobiles. There's a room straight ahead through the double-doors — be careful, the energy levels are already at seventy percent. I don't see any traces of actual alien life, though"

"Thanks, Jess. Just keep monitoring it. Sonera, how are you holding out?"

"Unit's on to something, but I think I can keep them in the dark a little longer. You might have an hour tops…so get a move on, guys." Sonera chirped back from her station in Torchwood. She'd been so busy keeping outsiders off their backs, Jessica had to stay behind to man the rest of the network system. That left just five team members out in the field.

Jack and Rose silenced their ear pieces and paused at the double-doors, one person on either side. They glanced at each other and then Jack gave the signal before bursting through the doors, Rose a step behind him. However, they were simply met with an empty room. Puzzled, Jack glared at his tracker and waved it around, trying to figure out where the power source was coming from. The radar pulsed red, indicting they were in the right spot, but there was nothing. A simple room. No lights, no sound, no charged energy…nothing.

"Jack…" Rose whispered, her senses on edge. Could he not feel it? Everything about this place…this very room…it felt so _wrong_and yet so familiar to her. Jack wasn't paying her attention, fighting with his little machine instead. He flipped his ear piece back on, barking at Jessica for more detailed answers she didn't have.

Rose tuned him out, cautiously walking around the spacious room to inspect every fine detail. The pale white walls were faded and peeling, bits of cracked paint littering the blue, torn carpeted floor. Giant fogged windows lined the right side of the room, casting an eerie glare of murky light from the early morning sun. With every breath she took, dust particles flared around her, causing her lungs to feel constricted without clean air. This place wasn't right…something was coming, she could feel the energy pulsing, converging in the centre of the room!

"Jack!" Rose yelled, but the warning came too late.

One second, they were standing in the room. The next, an explosion of energy threw Rose and Jack backwards into opposite walls with such force that it knocked the wind out of them. A blinding white-gold light tore a crack through the ceiling, the whole building shaking as the Rift ripped its way into the room. The air crackled to life, static rippling throughout the room in deafening waves. With a shuddering crash, something huge fell to the ground and then the energy, noise, and light were sucked back into the gaping split-ceiling like a vacuum. Less than a minute had passed.

The force of impact into the wall behind her left Rose stunned on the floor as she fought to catch her breath. Her neck, back, and lungs were screaming in pain, and she sat there counting the seconds away until her head stopped spinning to a sickening degree. Finally, she took the chance to open her eyes and survey the damage. That's when her heart gave out, freezing mid-beat in cold-blooded shock as she stared at the thing now sitting in the centre of the room.

It was something so impossible that her mind questioned her very sanity. Sitting there, gleaming in all its metallic glory…was _the_ Dimension Cannon. The one and only. How did she know this? Simple; only one ever existed in all of creation…back at Torchwood…in the parallel universe.

* * *

End Author's Note: Reviews both new and old loved and appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13

Happy Holidays to all. My Christmas gift is this chapter update. Longest chapter yet! I hope this flows smoothly. And yes, shame on me...I left it at a cliffy again. But it's not that bad of a cliffy is it? ...is it? Naw, it couldn't be so bad... Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews! They keep my muse going! Another big hug for ten_dr_rose and her beta services! I have to laugh at all the errors I made along the way. So many innocent eyes had to suffer until she saved me! LOL

Chapter 13

* * *

"You're sure?" Jack asked for the tenth time, walking carefully around the Dimension Cannon in awe.

"Yeah…yeah I'm sure," Rose replied in a hushed tone, gingerly running her fingers across the keyboard panel set into the side of the Cannon. How could she _not_ know what it was? It'd been the metacrisis' life work, rebuilding that blasted thing. She'd always wondered _why_he wanted to do it in the first place. Now it was sitting in the middle of an abandoned warehouse in her home Universe. Coincidence?

Rose slowly circled around the Cannon, unable to keep her hands off it. Something about the machine was different but she couldn't put a finger on the changes. This unit was of a new design, crafted by the brilliant mind of her human Doctor so long ago; it mentally hurt to dig up the fuzzy memory. Once she focused on it, though, old details leapt into her mind with clarity.

The Dimension Cannon spanned about eight feet in length, the centre of which was a large semi-circular archway that reminded Rose of a door frame. Granted, she'd never seen this model in action, but it didn't take a scientist to guess that it was the gateway between dimensions. She imagined the archway was wide enough to accommodate three people if they stood front-to-back inside the frame itself.

On the left side of the archway, a six-foot pillar helped ground the Cannon in place. Rose was pretty sure it housed the stabilizer core to keep the system from overloading when pushed to maximum power. That was something the old Dimension Cannon had lacked and she'd been on the receiving end of painful shocks and burns because of it.

The heart of the machine was built into the left side of the archway with a large display screen and keypad directly underneath. Right beside the keypad was a set of random buttons and settings to help fine-tune the power it could potentially churn out. The outer shell of the whole Cannon was reinforced titanium steel, painted white. Rose also noted the LED lights lining the inner walls of the archway. Come to think of it…they were still lit up as if…

"Jack…is this thing on?" Rose backtracked to the display screen which was still blank, but as soon as she tapped a key on the pad, it sprang to life like it was connected right into the power-grid of the building…the building currently unoccupied…_with no electricity_.

"Looks like it…probably an after-shock from Rift energy. I can't get a reading on it though, the tracker's fried — comm units as well," he replied, tossing his toy to the ground. He then removed his ear piece to examine it. The bud was definitely dead. "Great," He muttered, pocketing it.

"They'll be up here any minute, Jack, calm down. I'm pretty sure they'd have felt and heard that blast from below. If the team can't reach us by comm, they'll backtrack to find us," Rose mused as she started messing around with the keypad.

If this was truly the Dimension Cannon from the parallel universe, maybe she could find more info about it by digging into the database for answers. While this model was completely different from the one she'd used all those years ago, the guts and data-systems were of the same program. She'd mastered enough from her previous trips to know where to dig for encrypted files. Luck was on her side it seemed because after just a few key commands, she had access to the central database. She tried to swallow her nerves at the fact that her old passwords worked. This was definitely the same Cannon.

"Jack," Rose beckoned him to her as the display screen lit up and she silently read the small coding.

"Numbers?" Jack questioned, trying to read the screen but the text wasn't something he recognized.

"No, it's an intricate base of coding used by the Torchwood staff specifically for the Cannon project. The…human Doctor created it. He trained us to read and use it because he was paranoid about his 'baby' falling into the wrong hands, thus the need to birth the new dialect of sorts. This set of coding lists the last input date, as well as coordinates for both this Earth and the Parallel from my last jump in 2010." She was referring to the parallel's time period, but she wasn't sure if Jack knew that much. That world ran about three years faster than her home Earth so it would have technically been the year 2007 here.

Rose tapped another command into the keypad and a new set of coding replaced the last bit.

"What I don't get is…the last entry date logged into the system was on the seventh of October in 2025 by Toshiko Sato…" Rose stopped herself right there for two reasons.

First off, the Toshiko she was referring to was the parallel version of Jack's Tosh and that happened to be a sore subject for him. Secondly…it really wasn't any of his business to know that her human Doctor's death had happened back in 2023, two years _prior _to the last entry date. Since he had been the team leader on the Dimension Cannon, it should have been shut down and destroyed as instructed by Torchwood Protocols.

Rose didn't miss the grimace from Jack out of her peripheral vision at her mention of Tosh and she inwardly cringed at her slip-up. She should have remembered that all of Jack's previous staff had duplicates who also worked with Torchwood back in the parallel universe. In fact, Tosh and Gwen had been part of the human Doctor's team. Owen and Ianto just happened to work for her in her own department. However, Rose was above all staff with very few exceptions because of her father's role within Torchwood itself. That had never changed after the accident involving his death, which technically made the Doctor's staff hers as well.

"Ok, before you get all bug-eyed on me, there's something you should know…" Rose eyed Jack carefully for a second before facing the display screen again. "I worked for Torchwood back in the parallel universe for over ten years and your…_friends_…had duplicates there…and they were either under my command or the Doctor's."

Rose bit her lip and chanced another sideways glance at Jack. His jaw was tense, but otherwise he stood expressionless beside her. Finally, he let out a breath and nodded for her to continue.

"Tosh and Gwen worked on the Dimension Cannon project…" she said at last and he met her stare with a glare of his own. "I had my reasons for not telling you," Rose defended herself quietly.

"Okay…so let's get to the important stuff." Jack hedged, ready to move on with the conversation because he didn't want to dwell on his long-lost team. Rose sighed and began reading aloud again.

"Anyway, as I was saying…last entry date was October of 2025. After that, there's nothing." Rose mused, scrolling through the data again to double check herself.

"And that entry would be…?" Jack waited for some sort of reply since Rose had simply repeated herself without being more descriptive.

"That's the part I don't get. There's simply nothing there. Just the date. Hold on, what's this?" Something caught her eye that hadn't been there moments before and Rose double-clicked the tiny envelope icon that was nearly hidden in the far right hand corner of the screen.

As soon as the file activated, the Dimension Cannon hummed to life and Jack shot an arm out in front of Rose, gently guiding her away from the machine as a hologram projected out from a tiny camera lens above the display screen.

"Oh my…Tosh!" Rose whispered at the same time as Jack inhaled sharply. The hologram before them was just a miniature image of Tosh's upper body. She was dressed in her white lab coat with a red shirt underneath, a standard Torchwood Uniform in the parallel universe. Though she was smiling, Rose noticed how strained Tosh looked, almost as if she were exhausted.

"This is Toshiko Sato of Torchwood Five, project manager and sole remaining team member of the Dimension Cannon project. If you're receiving this message, it means that the Cannon has detected DNA traces of a part-human individual - specifically, it's been programmed to respond to you, Rose Tyler-Gallifreya."

Rose was little more than a deer caught in the headlights, her jaw clenched tight as she stared at Tosh. Jack found himself glancing from Tosh's image to Rose, unable to focus on either one of them. He noted how pale Rose had become, frozen like a statue with her hands in fists as Tosh continued to speak.

"I haven't got much time. I'll give you basic instructions and then the rest is up to you. Just be prepared. In ten minutes after you've activated the start-up sequence, the Dimension Cannon will self-destruct. Please clear the building prior to activation.

"Rose, it's been quite a while since you've seen the Dimension Cannon and you'll notice that some things have changed. The coordinates are set for a dimension-jump to a specific date back to the parallel universe. All you have to do is confirm the date, enter your password, and then insert the key. If you walk around to the back of the Cannon, you'll notice a hollow key-lock impression in the shape of a wrist-band. You know what band I'm referring to — you alone hold the key to this machine."

Tosh gave a sad smile but then she jumped in her seat at some unheard sound from the room she was sitting in. Her expression was of fear and she hurriedly grabbed the camera she was using to record her message.

"Forgive me! I'm out of time. This is all the help I can give you, Rose. Please take care!" and then the hologram logged out as the message ended.

For a few minutes, Rose stared at the Dimension Cannon numbly. So many questions were racing through her head while very old memories crashed through her mind in excruciating waves. She still had a human brain and it was never meant to carry so much for so long. Dredging up the old stuff always gave her migraines.

Whether it was the pain in her head or Jack's hand on her shoulder, Rose couldn't tell, but her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, strong arms slowing her fall as she stared blankly at the dirty carpeted floor. She subconsciously massaged her temple, trying to get a grip on her sanity as reality came crashing back to her. So many questions…

Rose tried to pull the facts together, gathering her memories in a pool to wade through them one-by-one.

First, the Dimension Cannon. What did she know about it? Well, for starters, she'd used it countless times to 'hop' from one universe to the next when she was searching for the Doctor. With some difficulty, she'd also been able to travel in time, but nothing more than a variance of 3-5 years because every 'hop' taxed the machine and generally caused a lot of damage to it. Not only that, but every trip she'd taken ended up punching a hole into the void between both universes. Once the void was sealed, the Cannon had just stopped working altogether. Therefore, using the Dimension Cannon now would undeniably rip a new hole into the void…wouldn't it? Rose wasn't so sure. Maybe this was a question to ask the Doctor.

The TARDIS rebuked her inner thoughts. The Doctor wouldn't know that answer, but the ship would. The Dimension Cannon wasn't the same as the old one. It was far more advanced and would not harm or open the void for this one and final jump. The Cannon was built for this purpose alone…and Rose would take it. She would take it NOW and never look back. Rose would trust her TARDIS, yes?

_Yes, I trust you_, Rose agreed with the ship and scrambled to her feet. She'd been oblivious to Jack's command to stay put a few minutes back and didn't even notice his absence. Unaware that he'd left to find the rest of his team, she cautiously approached the Dimension Cannon and did as Tosh had instructed. With a bleep, the computer system confirmed her password. Now she just had to insert the key on the other side of the Cannon.

With trembling hands, Rose removed her gold wrist band, fingering the smooth metal tenderly as she walked around the Cannon. At first, she didn't see anything on the back wall of the machine. Of course, if this was part of the human Doctor's design, he wouldn't have made it so obvious in case his project fell into the wrong hands.

Kneeling at the base of the Cannon, Rose ran her hands along the wall in search of a hidden button or door that was touch-sensitive. As she skimmed the cool metal, a small square section shifted under her palm, reacting to her skin. Sure enough, the button triggered a concealed perception filter to shut off and the key-insert materialized above her.

"That would be you, now wouldn't it?" Rose muttered to herself at the fond memory of her human Doctor's little tricks.

She stood up and traced the outline of the key-insert with a finger, hesitating to fit her band into the slot. Was she ready for this? Could she do it? She'd be crossing back into her timeline which was a huge risk in and of itself. But that wasn't her worst fears in all this. No, her concerns had everything to do with the people she'd undoubtedly see again…people that she'd let go of so very long ago.

This was crazy! She didn't even have a plan…but time wasn't on her side either. Rose could hear the echoing footsteps down the corridor. She wasn't sure what to expect on the other side of the parallel universe, but one thing Rose did know was that Captain Jack Harkness _wasn't_ going to get involved in this. Coming with her meant he'd be facing a long line of demons he'd tried to bury over the past two millennia and she wasn't sure she could handle that suffering in his soul all over again. Besides, her timeline was none of his business and she didn't want him mucking about in it. Jack was _not _coming!

As Rose thought those words, she jammed her wristband into the key slot and stepped into the portal as the Dimension Cannon kicked into gear. The machine lit up like a spotlight, the archway glowing a brilliant white as it locked onto the set coordinates programmed into the system. Bracing herself for the jump, Rose Tyler never looked back.

* * *

"Rose!" Jack burst into the room just as the light became overwhelming but he charged right for the centre. Leave it to Rose to act without him! He'd be damned if she took off into the unknown alone like that. Like it or not, they were still a team and he wasn't about to let her go so easily. Just when he thought he'd been a second too late, his fist closed around something soft and he felt gravity vanish altogether as the void sucked him in. He was so going to wring her neck when they got out of this!

* * *

The Doctor was reduced to pacing his temporary prison when the TARDIS gave a violent tremor, the ship groaning as an outside force sucked her into the unknown.

"What? What's going on out there?"

Just as the words left his lips, the lock on the library door opened and the Doctor was thrown to the floor as the TARDIS pitched forward in what he could only guess was a crash-like landing. The lights flickered and then dimmed, his ship moaning as her energy source began to fade at a rapid pace. His hearts lurched in panic as he scrambled to his feet, throwing himself out of the open door and pelting down the grated hallway until he practically collided with the control panel in the console room. Everywhere around him, he could feel the TARDIS dying. She was dying!

"No! No, no, no, no no…not now, don't you dare! Why now? What's wrong with you, what's happening?!" The Doctor spun around the console, fighting to get some part of the ship to respond to him but there was nothing. The lights were now completely dead. There was no reassuring hum in his head, no power, no signs of life…nothing. His TARDIS was dead. She was gone. Simply…gone.

* * *

The rain was pouring so hard that he could hardly see three feet in front of him. He wore a blue pinstripe suit that was soaked through to his skin with ice cold water but he was too numb inside to really be bothered by the chill. In all honesty, he didn't even know where he was going, wandering the streets of Cardiff in the middle of a bloody thunderstorm.

He'd really mucked things up this time…and now his wife wanted some space to cool down. That was something he could and would do for her. So he walked, trudging through the flooded streets to god only knew where. Maybe he'd just head back to their flat since she was staying at the mansion with her brother that night.

His hands were buried deep within his jacket pockets and he fleetingly wondered why he'd left without his overcoat or even an umbrella. It didn't matter, though. The sonic would dry him off soon enough once he got back to his flat — _their_flat, he corrected himself.

He never made it there, however. His mobile vibrated against his hand in his left pocket and he ducked into a small shop to get out of the rain to answer it. Ignoring the angry glares from the shop workers, he read the display screen before taking the call.

"Yes, Tim, what is it? This is sort of a bad time…" he paused as the other man interrupted him in a frantic voice.

"Wait, slow down, Tim! I don't understand. What do you mean it's been compromised? Tim? Tim!" The line went dead.

"Bloody hell!" Stuffing his mobile back into its pocket, he shoved the shop door open and ran back out into the rain.

* * *

Rose stumbled sideways, grabbing at the archway beside her as gravity righted itself once more. She was panting from the jump, her body feeling drained after hopping nearly two-thousand-_years_into the past from her universe to the parallel's. However, she wasn't alone. Damn Jack for his perfect timing! He stood panting next to her, leaning over with one hand on his knee for support while his other fist still gripped her leather jacket.

Before either one of them could even look at each other, the sound of cocked gun echoed from all around them. That's when Rose realized where they were both currently standing. The sight only served to take her breath away all over again and she fought to stand up straight, shrugging Jack's hand off of her as she glared defiantly back at her old torchwood team. Now that they were face to face, she saw the confusion on their faces. Best to act now while they were caught off guard like that.

"What the hell is this, then?" She barked at her team, putting as much authority as she could into her voice as she eyed each and every one of them. Gwen Cooper, Toshiko Sato, Lois Habiba, Andy Davidson, and Clem McDonald were present, but where was Timothy Barnes?

"Stand down," Rose growled when they hesitated.

"I said, STAND DOWN. That's an order!" Now she was yelling. That seemed to do the trick, Gwen nodding to the rest of the team to do as Rose commanded.

"Rose?" Tosh spoke up from the right, eyeing Rose with concern. She certainly _looked_like Rose, but something was different. Her hand was itching to get the temporal scanner in the other room to take a reading on Rose and the Dimension Cannon but she wasn't about to leave until she knew the rest of her team was safe.

Rose gave a nod of encouragement, raising her hands to show that she wasn't a threat. She was unarmed, her gun safely in its holster at her side.

"Yes, it's me, Tosh. Rose Tyler. See? No gun…I'm not armed." Lois, Andy, and Clem holstered their guns back under their lab coats but Gwen and Tosh kept theirs in hand, just in case.

"Mind tellin' us what the bloody hell is goin' on, then? This has been a right mess with the Cannon turning itself on! Tosh's been fightin' to turn it off and then you lot appear out of nowhere!" Gwen spoke up as she stared from Rose to Jack. She finally holstered her gun but rested her hand on it, still very suspicious of the whole situation.

"Long story." Rose huffed, lowering her hands as she spoke. "I'm…wait, what year is this? Can someone tell me the date?'

"It's the fifteenth of September, 2023. Why?" Gwen answered, still eyeing Jack. It didn't help her nerves any to notice how his eyes seemed glued to her. "Got a starin' problem, mate?" she barked, feeling the need to defend herself against the strange man in a very long black overcoat. Though, she had to admit the man was gorgeous, outfit and all…

Jack cleared his throat and averted his eyes because he was currently at a loss for words at the moment. This wasn't _his_Gwen…but she could have fooled anyone with the fire burning in her eyes. Feisty as ever, Gwen Cooper.

"Ah...yes. Team, meet Captain Jack Harkness. He's…working with me," Rose introduced Jack to everyone though her expression was anything but warm. In fact, if Jack didn't know any better, the term 'if looks could kill' would probably be appropriate for Rose right then. Clearly she didn't want him there.

A rumble of heavy thunder cut off the rest of Rose's sentence, echoing the raging storm outside. _Definitely in the right part of my timeline_, she thought as another crack of thunder boomed seconds later. Now she needed to get out of the building and hide any and all evidence that she'd been there. She also needed to get to the TARDIS…the **TARDIS**! Where was she? The ship's presence wasn't humming comfortingly in the back of her mind!

A look at of panic crossed her features as her eyes met Jack's. "I can't feel the TARDIS!" She murmured, now ignoring the rest of the people in the room. "I know she's here, I felt her the second we stepped out of the void but her presence is gone, faded!"

"What?" Jack asked, a bit worried.

A long while back, he recalled the Doctor telling him about what had happened to the TARDIS the first time they'd fallen into the parallel universe. They'd been lucky to find a tiny spark of life within the ship and the Doctor had gladly given away ten years of his life to bring her back from the brink of death. What if the TARDIS was gone this time, beyond saving? This Universe was wrong for her, she couldn't draw power from it. Then a more pressing question came to mind. How the hell was the TARDIS here in the first place?

It was time to step into action. He wanted answers, and he wanted them now. The people around them were confused and distracted. While Gwen and Tosh had guns, he knew how fast they could move…or at least, he hoped as much because clearly these were parallel versions of his old team. He'd have just enough speed to grab Lois as hostage and get the ball rolling. They needed to jam all communication lines, lock down the building, set a virus into the computer systems to erase their existence off all cameras, ret-con the witnesses, and get the hell out of there and to the TARDIS as quickly as possible!

In one swift leap, Jack lunged for Lois, his gun in hand before anyone could blink an eye. He held her arms painfully against her back with his gun poised at her head.

"Oi!" Gwen yelled as everyone but Rose whipped out their guns and aimed at him, but it was too late. He already had Lois right where he wanted her.

Jack's actions took Rose by surprise but she didn't miss a beat, immediately digging into her jacket pocket for a handful of black circular disks, tossing them out like confetti to effectively activate the tiny comm-jammers. They'd jam any and all forms of communication systems as well as fry out the CCTV network within a 3-floor radius. However, she was now glaring at Jack.

"What the hell are you doing, Jack?" she hissed, clearly not expecting his behaviour. They'd managed to move away from the Dimension Cannon but now things had turned to gun point and Rose felt sick about the possible accidents that could occur at any moment. She needed to get control of the situation and fast.

"I'm cleaning up your mess," Jack growled, holding Lois tight as he faced Rose with disapproval written all over his face. "I told you to stay put, didn't I? I had to clear the building, make sure everyone was safely out of there and what did you do? You activated the Cannon against my orders! You don't even have a plan for all this, so I get to clean up the mess. We don't have time to waste here."

"Excuse me?" Rose asked in disbelief, glowering at Jack for all it was worth. "This is _MY_timeline! How dare you.! You don't control me! I can bloody well take care of myself, you overgrown git!"

"Now's not the time, _sweetheart_. Right now, we really need to get the building in lock-down before we're swarmed with guards!" Jack replied sweetly though his smile was anything but. He then turned to Tosh, ignoring just how tight Rose's jaw became as she inwardly seethed at his antics.

"Tosh, be a dear and start the emergency lock-down procedure. I'm going out on a limb to guess you're a computer genius and know just what to do to get that done. Your friend's life here depends on it, so don't try anything funny."

Tosh turned to Rose for guidance, clearly feeling cornered and asking for help from someone she trusted. Rose felt sick about the whole situation. Her instincts were to fight against Jack and clearly she was more than match for the man but there were too many loaded guns involved to jump in the middle of his threat. While she wasn't concerned about her safety, or Jack's, everyone else was mortal.

"Do as he says, Tosh," Rose murmured with an apologetic smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Jack's a man with nothing to lose and nothing to fear. Don't test him. Go on," she nodded toward the computer and Tosh slowly eased her gun down, backing towards it. Rose followed her, all the while keeping her back to the wall with everyone out in front of her. At the moment, she didn't trust anyone with the exception of Jack, even though she was ready to strangle him.

"When we get out of this, I'm so going to kick your arse for this." She growled at Jack while watching Tosh start up the lock-down program. When the system was tripped, the brightly lit room flickered into red flashing lights as an alarm sounded through every room in the building.

"Warning, Emergency Program Two activated. All available staff are advised to exit the building as quickly as possible. Lock-down sequence to initiate in five minutes."

The automated system blared over and over again for a minute straight as Rose approached the closed metal door to peek out the tiny window. People were scrambling down the halls, yelling and panicking like the world was going to end. She made sure the door was securely shut and then locked it for good measure. Emergency Program Two would then double and triple lock the door for added security. It would take at least 5 hours for the best experts to shut down the system and unlock the building — supposedly.

Rose turned back to Jack and cautiously approached her team who still held Jack and his hostage at gun point. Nobody was going to shoot, she knew as much, but to see all her friends like this was unnerving and made her heart ache sadly. The only good thing about this mess was that it provided a perfect distraction for her mind, leaving her no time to dwell on the fact that right now, at that moment, the human Doctor was somewhere within Cardiff. If she could continue to ignore that fact, she'd be able to keep her heart out of the equation and do her job. But…what exactly was her job in all this anyway? She'd _caused_the chaos…and for what purpose?

"Okay, the building is in lock-down. Now what?" Rose asked Jack as she leaned casually against the wall by the computer.

Tosh was still sitting by the computer, peering nervously around. She was desperately trying to think of a solution out of the situation but how could she act when she didn't know who was on what side? Was Rose with Jack or were they enemies? Or was one using the other as leverage? These were all dangerous questions she had no answer to and it left her frozen in place.

"We need to set a virus into the system and remove all evidence of our untimely arrival and then we follow standard procedure with the witnesses." Jack said in a tone that suggested Rose should have guessed as much.

"Ret-con? Hold on, we don't even know how we're getting out of here! Thanks to you, the buildings locked up nice and tight. In case you've forgotten, Jack, Tosh was the one in the hologram. Not only that, but the last entry date was two years after-" Rose bit her tongue before she gave way too much information away.

"You see, this is where you start talking, Rose. All this time, I've been left in the dark and I would really like some answers right about now. You always leap into stuff without so much as a backwards glance. You push people away! That's not how a team works."

Before Rose could counter his statement, the first of three locks to the large metal door groaned until it snapped open.

"How long's it been since lock-down was started?" Jack whispered into Lois's ear as he watched the door with concern.

"Doesn't matter," she dared to chuckle, a gleam in her eyes as she too watched the door. "There isn't a lock in this building the Doctor couldn't open." Lois finished with a triumphant grin.

Nobody noticed Rose pale considerably under the red flashing lights.

* * *

End Author's Note: It's Christmas Eve over here in lovely Florida and it looks like we have nasty storms and more tornado threats to deal with on Christmas day. Wish us a safe holiday...it's gonna be a nasty one. In case I never again return to update, it's safe to assume the Tornado won... ._. and I'm so not joking about that.


	14. Chapter 14

It had come to my attention that Fanfiction has not been separating certain parts in the chapters that lead into a different scene. I'll have to go back and fix that. It shows up on whofic but not here and I didn't know that until now. Go figure. That is not a mistake of mine, trust me.

I finally updated the summary for this story to something much more appropriate. I wasn't sure my fic would make it as far as it has so the summary really needed saving, which I did ;) However, because of the character restriction, I had to cut it down a bit. Full summary version is on whofic at least :P Also, adult content is coming up in CH 16 for sure. FANFICTION'S version will be EDITED. If you want the full version, please go to my profile for the link to whofic where it will be posted.

Gallifreyan language will be used in this chapter and will also be used in future chapters. Since I hate the idea of actually writing gibberish to show that small detail, I'm just going to italicize the quoted text to represent a conversation that's being spoken in Gallifreyan. Sound good? Example: "Normal speech, in English of course." "_And this will mean they are speaking in Gallifreyan_." I don't want to point these changes every time I go to use it, so please keep in mind the difference between "speaking English" and "_speaking Gallifreyan_". If italicized words are not in quotation, they are simply thoughts, not a language swap.

Chapter 14

* * *

The Doctor was in a state of shock. Could he really call it shock, though? Mourning maybe? No…he was too numb inside for that now. Angry? That didn't seem to fit his mood either. Whatever he was right now…it wouldn't change the fact that his TARDIS was gone. Dead. His beautiful, magnificent ship was just a hunk of useless metal. And where was he? Stuck in the parallel universe. He knew it because the Universe itself felt wrong. This wasn't home. This was hell!

The Time Lord heaved a heavy sigh, although it may have sounded closer to a sob as he watched the torrent of rain drown the world in its fury. He leaned against the open doorway of his TARDIS, staring out into the world with an empty heart. He was alone here, stranded in a universe that he'd grown to hate in such a short amount of time. He couldn't even detect the slightest trace of Rose's mind. If she truly had a partial telepathic bond with him, he'd have felt her presence…but there was nothing. Where was she in all this? How did he end up here?

Thinking back to his TARDIS, he realized just how weird she'd been acting. She'd held him prisoner in the library and removed herself from the Time Vortex at some point…unless Rose had managed to pilot the ship. That was plausible. She certainly had had the time to learn the skill. Still…some things just didn't add up.

It didn't matter though. He was still stranded and alone. He wanted to forget about his troubles. Maybe a drink? No, a few drinks; strong drinks. Really, really strong drinks. Drinks strong enough to dull the mind of a bloody Time Lord. That's what he needed.

With that thought firmly in mind, the Doctor shrugged out of his overcoat and then his pinstripe jacket, tossing them carelessly over the railing behind him after stuffing his sonic screwdriver in his trouser pocket. He really wasn't sure why, but the thought of getting his coats wet was unpleasant; or maybe he just wanted to feel the bite of the rain to keep him mildly sane. Either way, he refused to stand another second within the grave of his ship.

The icy water swallowed him up whole as he plunged into the stormy weather but it didn't stop him from walking the back streets of Cardiff. He drifted into the city, hunting down a pub to drink his miseries away (if that were even remotely possible considering his Superior Time Lord Biology). Just how low had he truly fallen in his grief?

The Doctor paid no heed to his Time Sense. He could have been on the streets for hours…but just when he thought he'd found a half-way decent pub a few buildings down, something caught his eye through the heavy downpour.

He wasn't really looking at anything or anyone at that moment when he'd spied her. It had to have been her hair, or possibly the way her body hunched against the rain as she briskly left the pub he'd been approaching. Maybe it was the sob he thought he'd heard as she brushed by him without so much as a glance in his direction. Whatever it was, his entire being locked onto the woman with blonde hair as she turned a corner and vanished from sight. It was Rose! It had to be Rose - a much _younger_Rose.

Just as the revelation hit him, a rather drunk man stumbled past him, also having left the pub and he too stumbled around the corner of the same building as Rose. Ooooh, did that _ever_ rub him the wrong way. The Doctor's jaw clenched as his hands flexed into fists, a storm brewing in his soul and he purposefully stalked after the man. The bastard was quicker than he looked, though, and by the time the Doctor rounded the corner, Rose was pinned against the brick wall almost a block down. Big mistake.

* * *

At the age of 33, Rose wasn't exactly powerless against her assailant. In all honesty, she wanted a really good reason to punch the living daylights out of someone for good measure. Unfortunately, when the man pulled a knife on her while demanding she keep quiet, she realized she'd left her gun, pocket knife, and taser back at the mansion. Absolutely brilliant, Rose.

Just as she braced herself for the worst, the man was torn off of her and tossed across the street. The air the poor fool got from that throw was enough to knock him unconscious as gravity brought his weight back down onto the concrete with a sickening thud. Rose was taken by surprise. She was pretty sure her gob hung open like an idiot for all of five seconds before she turned to her rescuer and froze.

There stood the Doctor, sopping wet in the rain in just a white oxford shirt, blue swirly tie, and _brown_ pinstripe trousers. So many emotions consumed her heart and she couldn't settle on a single one, caught between shock, fear, surprise, joy, sadness, pain, love…_betrayal_. Then she wanted to slap him for everything he was worth, but her hand refused to cooperate with her.

All she could do was stare at him, unable to breathe. She wasn't naïve. Rose knew who this man was. This was the Doctor, the _Time Lord_ Doctor. The one who'd left her. The one who'd broken his promise and her heart ten long years ago…and he looked absolutely wrecked. She didn't think, _couldn't think_, in that moment. There was only one thing her mind processed, and that was him. Damn him if he thought he was getting away from her one more time!

Rose reached out and snagged the Doctor's blue swirly tie and dragged him to her lips. To her surprise, he didn't resist. In fact, he kissed her back and pulled her close, taking her breath away. Her last coherent thought as her back hit the brick wall behind her was that she was never, ever letting this man go again. The Time Lord did not refuse her.

* * *

Rose Tyler was painfully aware of the breath she'd been holding as the second lock unlatched on the door. She knew very well who was on the other side, working the locks free one-by-one to get to his team. The problem was that he wasn't supposed to know she was here…or was he? But she didn't have time to mull over the questions. She had to gain control of the situation and Jack stood in the way of that very important fact. Enough was enough. Jack was going down.

She tore her eyes away from the door and immediately took in her surroundings, a plan flying into place within her mind as she stared from Jack to Lois and then to the gun Jack held against her head. She could do this. This was simple and all down to perfect timing and speed. Lucky for her, Jack didn't know the true meaning of speed when it came to the Big Bad Wolf. Not only that, but she was betting on the fact that he never saw her snag the gold band back from the Dimension Cannon when he'd taken Lois hostage. Time to strike back.

Rose glued her eyes on her target and threw herself into the Vortex with a hard spin, giving her the speed she needed to carry her through one full rotation. That was the trick to her Vortex Jumper; the void always sucked you in, causing a vacuum to throw you forward. Over the centuries, she'd learned that by spinning _into_the vortex, she'd get that much more momentum when thrown out of it. Spin in, fly out. The force of it couldn't be stopped easily and it would give her the strength she'd need to rip the gun free from Jack's hand fast enough to take him by surprise - and that's exactly what she did.

To everyone else, she was a blur of motion, but for Rose, the world around her literally slowed to a crawl. She timed her jump and shot out of the Vortex mid-twist with her head cocked over her left shoulder, eyes locked on Jack's gun. She spun counter-clockwise, her left hand grasping the gun barrel to rip it free from his hand. In the same instant, she used her right hand to shove Lois forward, knocking the woman to the ground. Using that shove as leverage, Rose thrust herself away from Jack and vanished back into the Vortex. She winked back into the room none-too-gracefully, but she was right where she wanted to be about a yard back from her target. Loaded gun firmly in hand, Rose took aim at Jack's heart and fired three times. He never had a chance.

Jack was dead before he hit the floor. At the same instant, the door behind Rose burst open and the room erupted into chaos with shouts and screams as several armed men charged into the room. With more guns aimed at her, Rose bristled at the uniformed men without fear as she lowered the gun and tossed it carelessly to the floor.

"I suggest you get that gun out of my face before I tear your sorry ass to hell and back for threatening YOUR COMMANDER!" Rose bellowed at the man directly in front of her. His young face paled immediately and all firearms quickly dropped away from her. Everyone recognized who she was and the room became deathly quiet. _Finally_!

"This building is in lock-down for a reason! I want all available arms down stairs immediately. I don't care if this is a false alarm; I want the place secured and a spot-sweep started. Nobody leaves their station until every speck of dirt has been cleared. Now move!" Rose was quick with her tongue, spitting out the little white lie with perfection. Blimey, she felt so weird acting like this. It wasn't her…really it wasn't. Rose Tyler would never take command of her team like that. She used to work _with_her staff, even if she was above them in rank — which she was.

As the men filed out the room in confusion, Rose beckoned to Lois. "Ret-con them. Every single one," she whispered for her ear alone. Lois eyed her for a second and then gave a curt nod before slipping after her prey. Out of everyone, Lois loved a challenge. The dirtier the job, the better it was for her. Rose knew she could trust her friend to do the job right. She was the kind of woman who did things first and asked questions later, even if the situation as beyond crazy. Besides, Rose had proven herself as an ally by saving her life and killing the man who'd held her hostage. That was all the proof she needed.

With Lois gone, Rose turned back to Jack's still form on the ground. She'd shot him three times in the heart and knew from experience that it'd take his body about five minutes per shot to mend the wounds. Therefore, it'd take him fifteen minutes to come back to life. She was really going to hate that part. Poor Jack…and it was all her fault he had to suffer this kind of life. However, she still wasn't sorry for shooting him. Now she needed to keep him leashed if they were going to get anywhere within the next couple of hours.

A throat cleared from somewhere behind her and Rose realized she still had seven pairs of eyes staring at her back. Oh yeah…she wasn't alone. Grand.

"Gwen, do me a favour and tie this bloke up for me, yeah? Better stick him in cuffs, bugger can get out of rope pretty fast." Rose said offhandedly, turning to face the remaining part of her old team.

"Have you gone mad, Rose? You shot the git dead! Why would I need to tie 'im up?" Gwen half-laughed like this was some kind of joke and she crossed her arms defiantly.

"Do as she says."

Call it habit - because old habits really did die hard — but Rose couldn't keep her eyes from riveting to the man who'd spoken for the first time since he'd worked the locks free. The second their eyes locked…there wasn't a word she could use to describe just how she felt in that moment. She was oblivious to Gwen's protest even though the woman did as instructed. It was just down to Rose Tyler and the human Doctor, a man she hadn't seen in over 850 years of her life.

When he approached her, she couldn't help but back away from him until the wall cut off any route of escape. She looked more like a cornered animal with no place to flee which caused the human Doctor to slow his pace, holding his hands up to show her he meant her no harm. As if he would ever hurt her like that…but for Rose, she was staring into the eyes of a dead man, a ghost. She'd already watched him die in her arms, his blood staining her hands and clothes for all eternity. Those nightmares would always plague her. Yet here he was, inches away, and her mind simply shut down, unable to think. She was stripped down to the basic instincts of breathing.

"Rose," the man in blue pinstripes whispered as he dared to touch her cheek with one hand, his eyes searching hers with such depth that her body shuddered under his power - because that's what he had over her; power. Complete control. She'd give anything and everything to this man and right now she was at his mercy and that really scared the hell out of her. "Your eyes…"

Rose tore her eyes away in a fleeting attempt to hide from him but a firm finger under her chin forced her to look back up at the human Doctor. Who was she kidding, anyway? He was the Doctor! Human or Time Lord, it didn't matter. He was the same man all the way down to his soul. He would always be her Doctor and blimey, she missed him to pieces!

"You're from the future." It wasn't a question. The Doctor knew best when it came to Time. Even in human form, he could see glimpses of timelines if he strained hard enough to single one out. The part that chilled Rose the most, though, was just how much the man could see down to her very heart. He knew she was a lot older than she looked…he just didn't know to what extent.

"Yeah…I'm from the future," she was able to muster with a swallow, incapable of looking away from him. He still had his finger under her chin and that simple touch alone was driving her mental. She was so focused on the Doctor that when Jack gasped back to life, Rose just about jumped out of her skin.

Gwen and the rest of the team leapt away from Jack with surprised yelps, a couple people whipping out guns at him even though he was currently cuffed and bound to a chair by the computer.

"Bloody hell, Doctor! He came back to life!" Gwen practically screamed as she levelled her gun at Jack's face.

"Yes, he does that. Fixed point in time, he is. A Fact. Immortal." The Doctor quipped over his shoulder without turning from Rose. "Question is…what is he doing here?" That question was for Rose herself but she didn't give him an answer.

"You know him?" Owen asked in astonishment as he lowered his weapon back down and tucked it back in its holster under his white lab coat.

"Captain Jack Harkness. We go way back, him and me. In fact, all three of us do, isn't that right, Rose?" Rose nodded dumbly, not entirely sure where the Doctor was going with any of this.

As Jack took in greedy breaths of air, he thrashed against his bindings and quickly took stock of his situation.

"Well, this is grand!" Jack laughed as he gave up his struggle. It was obvious he wasn't getting free anytime soon. Now he glared at Rose and the Doctor on the left side of the room. Rose had her back up against the wall and from his angle, it looked more like the Doctor had her pinned there.

"Don't mind me, I'll just enjoy the view." He winked at Rose who glowered at him.

"Knock it off, Jack. We really need to be going…" she said, trying to side-step around the Doctor but he grabbed her wrist gently and again her body froze at his touch.

"Oh, no, I don't think anyone's going anywhere until I get some answers," the Doctor cut in, his gaze penetrating every bit of defence Rose thought she had against his power. "It's quite obvious that you're both from the future and that means I have to back-track and erase quite a bit of data from the CCTV system as well as pat this mess down with a few stupid lies. Not to mention the memories I'll have to wipe and you know very well how I feel about that, _Gallifreya_."

Jack didn't miss how Rose flinched away at the name he called her just then. He then recalled Tosh's hologram recording when she'd addressed Rose as Rose Tyler Gallifreya. He'd ignored it the first time, but now he caught onto its meaning.

"You're married," he stated aloud, interrupting the Doctor without remorse. "You never told me you were married!" Should he be feeling awkward about this situation now? Ho, the Doctor was surely going to have his head if he caught on to their past history together.

"Widowed." Rose corrected harshly, ripping her wrist free with more force than necessary.

Walking over to Jack, she lightly smacked him on the head. "Now do us all a favour and shut it." Jack just gave her one of his manic grins and despite the bitterness she felt inside, she couldn't help the tiny half-smirk at him so she slapped him on the arm for good measure.

"Is that a smile?" Jack teased but then his grin vanished when he spied the intense glare directed his way from the Doctor and he cleared his throat. Right. Well…not exactly the best time to tease Rose when she'd just informed her late husband that he was deceased in her current timeline. Whoops…

Rose was now pacing around Jack, clearly at a dead end of her plan. She had no way out of the building. She couldn't make a jump with her wrist band without a proper image in her mind and her memories were too old to trust for something like that in this world. One thing she never did was take those kinds of risks. Just one screw up and she'd be forever lost within the Vortex itself.

"You shot me." Jack broke into the thick silence as he watched Rose's nervous pacing. She glanced back at him for a second before muttering, "'M not sorry for that either," and kept pacing.

"Huh, just typical. We're partners for fifty years and not once did you ever follow orders. Absolutely refused to touch a gun. Then suddenly the Doctor pops back into your life and you shoot me!"

Rose had to pause and eye him a moment and Jack wasn't sure if she was measuring him up to slap the daylights out of him or if her piercing stare was a warning to shut his mouth. "Yeah… fancy that." She stated simply and then turned back to face the Doctor.

During her pacing, Rose had been drawn into a sea of memories as she tried to formulate a plan to get back to the TARDIS. Clearly, they were stuck in this situation so what better way to understand the events taking place than to think back to when she'd lived in this part of her timeline? What did she know about this mess from a younger perspective?

The human Doctor came to mind as she asked herself that question. Honing in on those precious memories between them, Rose remembered a change in the man after the night she'd conceived the Time Lord's baby. It was almost as if her husband knew it had happened, and he'd been so understanding, so supportive and tender. In the end, as he died in her arms, he'd stated she had someone to live for and in that moment she'd realized that her husband knew about the baby and accepted it as fact and loved her all the more for it anyway. Rose had never told him about that night, of that one moment of weakness when she'd utterly betrayed him and yet…_he knew it all along_!

It all clicked into place. The Dimension Cannon, the human Doctor's involvement in it, the changes he made after she'd conceived the baby…it all happened because this future version of herself told him about it. He was the man who ran the virus through the Torchwood Files and crashed the database to protect her future. He was the one who ret-conned everyone except Tosh. He built the Dimension Cannon to get her here (if not for this exact purpose in the _very_beginning, the finished project was intended to do so now.) And after his death, Tosh was loyal enough to finish it to the end.

Approaching the Doctor with a new determination, she now knew what had to be done. The Doctor wanted answers and he would have them; but not here. They needed to go somewhere private. She knew of just the place.

Speaking in an ancient tongue long since extinct, Rose gave the Doctor the shock of his life. She used his native language, weaving the words with centuries of practice that quite literally stole his breath away.

"_You want answers, Doctor? I'll give them to you…but not here. Forgive me, but it's been too many years since I last saw…home. Could you…show me? Show me the flat as it is right now? All I need you to do is picture it in your mind and I can take us there. We can talk, catch up a bit, yeah?_"

Rose reached out and gently touched his temple with a trembling hand. While stunned, the Doctor simply gave a slight nod and did as she asked. Her telepathy was strong enough to pick up the image and as she grasped his free hand firmly in hers, she drew him into the Vortex with her.

"Oh, this is just great! Way to go, Rose. Just leave me behind again. Was she always this thick?" Jack complained as he struggled against his bindings. He was answered with a slap at the back of his head as Gwen pulled up another chair to sit beside him. This was going to be a really long night.


	15. Chapter 15

Sorry everyone! I got sick with a nasty cold and didn't realize I'd left off posting chapter 15 on fanfiction. Here it is! I've been struggling along with chapter 16 and something kept nagging me about fanfiction... I posted 15 up on whofic but not there. My apologies! I'll try not to do that again...

Chapter 15

* * *

Rose braced herself as the void spat her out with its usual force, the Doctor stumbling forward with a lot less grace as he slipped from her hand. Luckily, the couch was there to catch him and Rose had to hide her cheeky grin at the funny sight. Even Jack had more balance than the Doctor…but then again, Jack also had a lot more experience with this kind of jump.

Offering the Doctor a hand up, Rose finally took a moment to observe her old home. How she'd missed this cosy little flat. It was small and simple and it'd taken her husband awhile to adjust to the place, but it was theirs and so many memories had been forged here that her heart ached with longing.

Several picture frames hung on the tan walls, scattered all over the living room. Ten years of smiling faces, tender hugs, and lots of cuddling were in those frames and the memories they brought back made Rose hug herself tightly as she took in each one. When warm arms encircled her from behind, she startled and jumped away from her late husband.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor apologized but Rose was quick to collect her nerves and hushed him with a finger to his lips. Perhaps she shouldn't have done that. Just a simple touch was all it took to make her resolve to keep her distance from him almost shatter. Almost… Ripping her eyes away from his mouth, she bit her bottom lip to distract her mind long enough pull further away from him.

"Don't be. 'S jus'…been an exhausting couple of weeks, it has. 'M tired and a more than a bit jumpy. I could use a nice cup of tea, yeah?" Rose gave the Doctor a meek smile and headed around to the kitchen, flipping on the light. She paused at the counter, realizing that she hardly remembered where anything was stored. As the Doctor joined her, he raised an inquiring eyebrow when she gave him a pleading look for help.

"Problem?" he asked her with a light chuckle.

"'S not funny, Doctor! Been over eight hundred and fifty years since I last used this kitchen. Give me a break," she stated matter-of-factly with a poke to his shoulder in light jest, but the look on his face made her realize all too late the mistake she'd made. "Yeah…about that…" she started, again worrying her bottom lip as the Doctor gaped at her.

"Eight hundred and fifty years…has it really been that long?" he breathed as both hands seized her shoulders, his eyes piercing hers in disbelief. "You haven't aged a day, Rose!"

Rose swatted him away from her as if it wasn't a big deal and bent down to rummage through the cabinets in search of a kettle. After the third try, she found what she wanted and soon had water heating on the stove. The Doctor was sane enough to at least gather everything else for her and once all of it was sitting on the counter, Rose finally chanced a glance at him. She could literally read all the questions he wanted to ask her from his gaze alone.

"I'm roughly nine hundred and three years old," she offered softy, prepping her mug to keep her fingers busy. "I've spent the last fifty years working for Torchwood Seven with Captain Jack…and we only just found the Doctor three weeks ago," Rose summarized.

"Nine-hundred and… Rose! That's…blimey! I don't even know what to say," the human Doctor murmured, completely awe-struck with her age.

"Then don't say anything. Just accept it as fact. Your other self about died of a double heart-attack when I told him my age. Let's not repeat that little episode, thank you." Rose tried to joke around with it, but her voice was tinged with sadness.

Nothing more was said until after they'd settled back on the couch with mugs in hand. Rose took the moment to just relax, enjoying the warmth of her tea and the simplicity of something so completely domestic. Ever since her husband's death, her life had been anything but simple.

"I miss this-" she admitted and her voice cracked from the sob she tried to stifle down. Her cup swiftly vanished from her hands and was set onto the side table beside her as the Doctor pulled her into his arms. This time she allowed herself to bury into his embrace. She inhaled his scent and fresh tears sprang into her eyes as more memories came crashing back to her full force.

For however long she cried, the Doctor held her close, running his fingers soothingly through her hair as he whispered encouraging words of comfort. It took her awhile before she was able to compose herself enough to pull back from his arms but she didn't leave his side, opting to curl against him with her head on his shoulder as her fingers laced through his. Rose was finally ready to talk.

"There's so much I need to tell you…and so little time that we have. Just…let me get it all out and then I'll answer any questions you may have, yeah?" she said with an unsteady sigh, peering up at him from his shoulder. He answered by kissing the top of her head and squeezing her hand in reassurance.

"Well then...if memory serves me correctly, I'm willing to bet that we've just had a really bad row earlier tonight," Rose started, glancing at her human Doctor in question and he grimaced in reply.

"Yes. We…had some disagreements and I said some things that I never should have and I'm so sorry, Rose, really I am-" Rose pressed another finger to his lips to stop his rambling.

"Shhh, it's okay, Doctor. Jus' let me explain, please?" At his nod, she continued. "Anyway, I asked you to leave the mansion and give me some space, which you did. But I couldn't stay there. After you left, I called up Jake Simmons because I really needed a friend to talk to and he met me at that little pub down off of James Street. We talked for a good bit, but then he got called into work and had to leave. I stayed there for awhile until this drunken git began nagging me and I got fed up with it."

The Doctor in blue pinstripes fidgeted a bit as she told him this. She could only imagine how he must be feeling right now. If she knew him as well as she thought she did, he was probably having an inner struggle to keep himself from leaping off the couch to go find and save her younger self right now. She squeezed his hand and his squirming stilled, though the worry was still present on his face.

"When I left, I didn't realize he was following me. The rain was hell out there. I could hardly see or hear a thing in that downpour," Rose paused and measured the Doctor's state before pushing on. When he said nothing, she felt safe enough to continue.

"The prat caught up with me and pinned me against a wall- Hold on, Doctor, let me explain!" Rose had to grab his arm and tug him back down onto the couch with force because he'd launched himself off the seat in panic.

"'S alright, Doctor, look at me! He didn't harm me, I promise! The Doctor got to him before anything bad happened!" That stilled any further protest and he stared at her in alarm.

"The Doctor? You mean _him_, the Time Lord. He's here, right now, in this Universe." There were all statements and now he looked very unsettled. Was the Time Lord here to steal his Rose? Why didn't he sense him before? Now that this news was brought to his attention, he could vaguely detect the Time Lord's mental presence in very tiny wisps.

Rose kept a firm grip on his arm as she spoke slowly, eyes locked with his. "Yes, Doctor. He's here. Right now. With me. The _younger_ me."

The human Doctor scratched the back of his neck as he straightened up and Rose let his other arm slip free with a sigh, letting him absorb this information.

"And what, may I ask…is he doing here? What are you doing here? I need some answers, Rose, I really do." He sank back further into the couch but Rose made no move to get closer to him. The air was tense between them and she wasn't sure about her own feelings at the moment to risk touching him. She took a deep, shaky breath that drew his attention before she faced him and told him the truth.

"Tonight's the night that I…conceive a baby. _His_ baby." She whispered and then Rose lost the ability to look at him, focusing on the brown carpet instead. The Doctor just stared at her in astonishment. And stared…and stared. Seconds became minutes until he was able to formulate speech again.

"You…_slept_ with _him_, the Time Lord Doctor. The man who dumped us here. The man you mourned over while I spent months trying to pick up the pieces." Again he was speaking in statements, not questions. His jaw clenched and unclenched as he tried to comprehend the meaning behind all this. "Tell me you're joking, Rose…" He pleaded but she couldn't face him or answer his question.

His stomach dropped at this new revelation. The bastard was after his Rose! He'd come to seduce her and steal her away forever! A blinding red fury consumed him and he shoved off the couch with the intent of hunting down his Time Lord self.

"No!" Rose yelled and instinctively lunged at him, grabbing his shoulders to stop him. "You can't stop this, Doctor!"

She wasn't prepared for his rage as he spun around and bellowed right back at her. "The hell I can, Rose! You're my _wife_! That sorry excuse of a Time Lord was never man enough to keep you by his side and now he thinks he can just show back up and take what's **mine**?!" His anger was to be expected, but it still killed her inside to witness it. She couldn't keep him from tearing free of her hands as he stormed to the front door.

Rose bit back a sob and hugged herself tightly, feeling so guilty about all this but she had to stop him, some way, somehow. Just as he reached the door and grabbed the handle, she called out to him in a weak voice.

"I'm sorry, Doctor... I am…but if you stop this," the door opened and he had one foot out of the door but Rose didn't stop, knowing he could still hear her. "I'll die."

That did it. Those two words cause him to halt mid-step. The fury in his eyes wavered as he swung back to face her from the doorway. The storm outside still howled as wave after wave of rain crashed against the open door.

"What did you say?" The Doctor stepped back inside, slamming the door behind him as he glared at her. Rose swallowed and fought to keep her voice in check as she answered him.

"If I don't concei- If this doesn't happen, then in four months from now, I'll die." Now she had his full attention. It crushed her inside to see the pained, mistrusting wariness in his gaze so she ploughed ahead, praying for him to understand it all.

"The whole time we were together, you feared that I was immortal like Captain Jack because I wasn't aging with you. I healed faster than the average human; cuts, bruises, broken bones, gun wounds…they all healed in a matter of days! That's why you became obsessed with the Dimension Cannon project. If there was ever a way to send me back to my home Universe, it was your best bet. You knew I would probably outlive you and you wanted some way to send me back to the Time Lord Doctor after your death, am I right?"

Rose knew she'd guessed right because his glare shifted to the floor for a moment before looking at her again. The fire was cooling in his brown eyes and Rose took that as encouragement to continue.

"Well, you were wrong. We both were. That younger version of me _can_ be killed, you just have to crush my heart. That's what will happen in my timeline, four months from now. I lost you, Doctor. Your life was taken from me much too soon and the only thing that kept me going was that baby!" Tears were flowing freely but her voice was surprisingly strong. She didn't give him time to respond to her words, knowing that if she stopped, she may not be able to continue.

"Two weeks after you died in my arms, I was on my way home from Torchwood and a car T-boned the driver side of my vehicle. I was crushed with the force of it…we both were. I felt-"

The Doctor rushed to her side as she lost her grip on self-control and broke down in grief. Whatever rage he'd been feeling moments ago evaporated as he held her close and gave her the comfort she needed after everything she'd been through. While he was scared to death right now, Rose needed him and he would never deny her that support.

"He was p-part Time Lord," Rose managed to hiccup after her sobs died down. She found herself in the Doctor's warm arms, nestled in his lap on the floor. The living room was dark because they'd only bothered to turn on the kitchen lights earlier. She was glad for the cover of shadows though. Her face had to be a mess from her tears and runny nose by now.

"I knew it was boy, a little boy. Just after I lost you, he formed a mental link with me that helped get me through the darkest of days. He was so brilliant, even then, just like you and…the Doctor," Rose paused, not wanting to upset the man holding her. When he didn't tense up at her slip, she took a breath and continued, " …but at four months in the womb, he wasn't able control a full scale regeneration. We were both dying and I felt every millisecond of it.

"I think it was a natural self-preservation instinct that triggered his regeneration…it consumed me because he was still a part of me and the energy mended my heart and injuries just before it gave out, but…" The Doctor held Rose tighter as he listened intently to her memories, hanging on every word.

"He didn't make it. One moment he was right there, in my mind. Then the next second, I was engulfed in a golden glow that severed the link between us and he was gone. Just…gone. 'S like…he was never there, like I was never even pregnant."

For several minutes, neither was able to speak as the Doctor again had to witness more tears of grief. He held her against his chest, rocking and kissing her, and then he began speaking in his language, offering her soothing words of love and comfort that seemed to aid her in calming back down.

So many questions plagued his mind but they were all about her. How long had she carried this grief with her? Had she told no one, not even his Time Lord self? She'd said she only just found him weeks ago. No, not him then. Jack? He'd been her partner for the last fifty years…but remembering that brief encounter earlier between them had the Doctor doubting that Rose let the Captain in on her secrets. So where had she spent the remaining years of her life between the car accident and Jack's timeline? Who'd been there for her while she struggled to cope without her Doctor?

Rose finally cried herself out and sat quietly in the Doctor's lap, idly playing with the lapels of his blue pinstripe jacket as she fought to stifle odd hiccups and sniffles. She frowned at the wet spots her tears had left on him.

"Sorry 'bout that…" she mumbled, brushing the patches pitifully until warm hands caught hers. The Doctor kissed the tops of her hands and then repeated the process on her forehead, cheeks, and nose. Such a simple gesture of comfort left her body singing for much more.

"Rose Tyler, you will not apologize to me about anything ever again. You have nothing to be sorry for," he chastised softly, gazing into her eyes with all sincerity before resting his forehead against hers, pulling her impossibly closer.

"But I do, Doctor…I betrayed you. I slept with…_him_…I didn't even stop to consider the consequences! I just did it. I-" This time it was his finger on her lips that hushed her. She pulled back just a little and began worrying her bottom lip, her chocolate orbs focusing on the threads of his jacket rather than his face.

"He's me, Rose." The Doctor whispered gently, tipping his head sideways to catch her eyes. "He's me and I'm him. Time Lord or part-human, we're one and of the same."

Rose sat up straighter in his lap and eyed him warily, not quite understanding his logic or behaviour. Wasn't he rearing to kick some Time Lord arse - however long ago that was - at the mention of her late night activities with the man?

"And where is this coming from all of a sudden?" Rose snorted sceptically. Was he just trying to make her feel better? Because right now, she was feeling lower than dirt after everything she'd just admitted to him and his calm demeanour was actually making it much worse.

Her Doctor merely sighed and a large manic grin spread across his face. "I can see where the confusion sets in. Ok, I'll admit, I'm a bit miffed that you were so quick to get him into bed. And I'm even more surprised that he gave in so easily, actually… I know how thick we can be! But, Rose, you have to understand…I can't be jealous of _myself;_ he's _ME_."

Rose was now staring at him like he'd grown a second head. "You-" She had to take a deep breath and try again. "You were ready to kill him before when I told you! And now you're ok with this?" She questioned in disbelief. Oh, she wanted to slap him sometimes! His mood swings were worse than any woman she'd ever met!

"No, Rose, you misunderstood… I... For a moment… I thought he was here to take you away from me," he confessed sheepishly, ducking his head a moment before glancing back at her.

"I thought I was going to lose the _younger you_ and that maybe the YOU now had come here to cover it all up or…something like that. But you're not leaving, though, right? He's here with _this_ you and not taking the younger you away, am I right? Oh, this is quite confusing, isn't it? All this wibbly wobbly timey wimey…stuff."

Rose blinked at him for a moment, her face blank of all expression. Then a peel of laughter so foreign to her ears filled the room and she realized it was coming from her own mouth. And she couldn't stop it. Fit after fit of laughter consumed her to the point she couldn't breathe and still she laughed some more. She wasn't laughing at him, really she wasn't. It had to be her nerves mixed with his nonsense ramblings that triggered it because she had no other excuse to blame it on. When she'd managed to somewhat control herself, she coughed to clear her throat and tried — blimey, she really, really tried, too! — to keep a straight face. It wasn't working out so well.

"Sorry, so sorry…that was bad of me to laugh. It's just…my god, I haven't seen you make that face in years and to hear you ramble like that…" she bit her lip to keep from giggling and was rewarded with another one of his brilliant smiles. It spread to her face to see that, her tongue catching between her teeth and the motion felt a bit strange to her. How long had it been since she'd laughed and smiled like this?

They lapsed into silence then, the Doctor reaching out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. The touch was gentle but Rose felt herself tremble in response and she had to take a steady breath at the building fire in her veins. Hold on…there was a lot more to it than that!

Rose's senses were suddenly hyper of her body and where she was sitting. It felt like a light flickering on in her mind without her permission. Emotions and desires came crashing through her in a massive tidal wave. Startled, she struggled out of the Doctor's lap and stumbled back with a gasp, holding her head in confusion. Where was this coming from? What was happening?

When the Doctor got to his feet, he watched her cautiously, studying her face. He knew what'd just happened because he'd felt it too, if not a lot more mildly than her. It meant that at this exact moment, the Time Lord Doctor had started the beginnings of a bond with Rose's younger self.

Being part-human, the metacrisis' telepathy was much weaker than it used to be but he was still Time Lord enough to be connected to all this. Since the future Rose was here, though, and already possessing that link, everything she'd felt back then was going to consume her again…and it would be twice as strong as it'd been the first time. It was starting to affect him as well…

"Rose," the Doctor called softly, holding out his hand to her. She eyed his hand warily and then met his gaze with confusion. Did he know? Could he feel it too? She wanted him; no, more than that…she _needed_ him but was this right, considering the circumstances? Everything was suddenly very complicated.

"What's happening…?" she whispered, hugging herself to keep her body from shuddering against a distant memory that momentarily blinded her, an image that felt so real her breath hitched. She was going mental, that had to be it…because _no one_ was touching her! These were _memories_, past experiences from long ago even though they were happening right now to a much younger version of herself. The Doctor's hands were not roaming over her bare skin, they weren't! She was still very much dressed, thank you. Her mind begged to differ.

"It's your bond with him, Rose. He's forging it with you, the younger you, right now. Telepathic links don't differentiate between past and present. If you're present in the same timeline, everything you felt when the connection was made will intensify as it happens all over again. Ok, so now I'm a bit jealous… I've wanted to share that part of myself with you all these years but the human part of me weakened my ability to do so." He said this last part sadly and Rose found herself drawn to the man.

"But you feel this, yeah? Right now…I don't understand how…but all of us…we're connected. We can feel it…" she murmured with another visible shudder. "I…I can share this with you. I want to share this with you. We both do." She included the Time Lord Doctor because his presence was now firmly in her mind. He knew she was there and who she was with and he would not deny her this moment, nor his part-human self.

The Doctor in blue dared to close any remaining space between them, one hand snaking around her waist to pull her flush against him while his other hand caressed her cheek tenderly.

"Oh, my Rose…my beautiful Rose…_I love you_, so much."

Rose stiffened in his arms, her breath stilling as she stared at him in shock. Because he didn't just… He couldn't have said… It was entirely not possible for him to have… Did he really just _say_ those three little words?

* * *

End Author's Note: Remember, smut is evident in chapter 16. However, due to rules, this will be edited. For the full, unedited version of chapter 16, please be sure to head to my profile page and follow the link there. I update first and you'll see it there anyway before I get the edited version up here. It will be done hopefully by next week...provided writers block doesn't get to me first.


	16. Chapter 16

Took me a bit to edit this, so forgive me for the delay. This is still rated at M because even though the most graphic of stuff has been cut, it's not 100% fool proof. It's the best I could do because how intense the chapter was between husband and wife. I would say you could skip this chapter, but you may miss vital parts said between Rose and her husband. It's your call. Language has not been edited in this story period, so that still remains the same here.

Chapter 16

* * *

For several heart-beats, Rose found herself searching the face of the man in blue pinstripes. "Excuse me?" she choked, astonished and not entirely sure if she'd heard him correctly.

The Doctor had the nerve to kiss her nose softly as he ran an index finger along her jaw line, drawing a shiver down her otherwise rigid frame. "I'm sorry," he whispered, his breath warm against her lips as he brought his forehead to rest against hers. "Coward, me…always have been."

It took Rose a moment to collect her thoughts, snapping out of her dazed silence to really absorb his words. It would be just like the Doctor to admit his love for her, only to chase after those words by calling himself a coward for keeping them from her for so long. Had she taught him nothing of her heart in their short ten years together?

Then her gut twisted as the weight of his words settled on her shoulders. How could he tell her that _now_ of all times? He was going to make this impossible; leaving him behind would surely break her heart beyond saving.

She slapped him, hard. The action startled Rose just as much as it stunned the Doctor and then she felt fresh hot tears falling down her face again. So many emotions consumed her that she was trembling under the strain of it all. She wanted to throttle the man's neck one second and throw herself at him the next, but as she wiped away the evidence of her pain, she settled on fury.

"How dare you," she spat, glaring at the Doctor as he rubbed the red mark on his cheek in shock. If memory served her correctly, it'd been a long time since he'd been slapped by anyone.

"Do you have any idea how hard this is for me to stand here, with you, in _this_ flat of all places?" Rose asked, her voice starting low but slowly rising. "You're a ghost, Doctor, a dead man in my past! It's killing me inside to be here! It'll kill me even more to walk away from it when we have to leave. I'm only here to keep my timeline safe, to keep _him_ safe because he's all I've got left."

The harshness of her words cut like blades, but she forged on, almost yelling as a new flood of tears rained down her face. She was getting really sick of the emotional rollercoaster ride. Was she really that pathetic to have fallen so far?

"You died," Rose accused, stabbing a finger into his chest as she took a step back to distance herself from him. Even in this state of turmoil, her body was screaming at her to go to him, to bury herself in his arms. "You left me, Doctor, I had no one! How do you expect me to...How can I possibly...God, why?! Why tell me now? It's bad enough that I want you even now, for fuck sake! I hate you," she spat with a shake of her head. "I mean, I never even got to say goodbye!"

There, she'd said it. In her confused torrent of emotions, the bitter truth of what she'd carried was finally thrown on the table for the world to see, adding it to the long list of all her other dark secrets locked within. She'd been alone to grieve his death for centuries without ever having the closure of telling him goodbye and just when she'd thought she'd have the chance to finish that chapter of her life, her git-of-a-dead-husband had said the magic words, throwing her courage right out the top window of the Shard.

The Doctor gawked at her, the sting of his cheek forgotten as his brain tried to catch up with his mouth.

"Rose Tyler…" he whispered after a second, levelling her with a glare of his own as his mind raced to find the right words.

It pained him to realize that Rose had held that grief in her heart for so many years and he understood her need for closure in it because it played such an essential role in self-healing. However, she'd spent far too long dwelling on her regrets and it made swallowing his declaration difficult for her and that was something he wanted to mend between them.

The Doctor had two options to work with in this situation. He could step aside and allow Rose to retreat back to the original TARDIS and let the Time Lord deal with her problems when the time came. Or…he could hold her, show and verbally express his love for her, and try to soothe her heart if only she'd let him. It was very clear that his death was coming, as unavoidable and terrifying as it might be. Nevertheless, he would deal with that nightmare some other day. Right now, Rose needed him and he silently vowed to save her.

The Doctor took Rose by surprise. She found her back shoved against the wall in the dark hallway across from the stairs with the metacrisis towering over her, the Oncoming Storm rising in his darkening eyes and she cowered beneath its force.

"Now you listen to me, Rose Tyler," his voice was low, menacing, and clipped, "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. If I could've been there, you know I'd have gladly held your hand every step of the way. If I could turn back Time, I would have saved so many lives, done so many things differently. But I can't. I couldn't save _them_," they both understood he was referring to her family, "and even I can't avoid death if that's what's coming in my future."

The Doctor had Rose pressed between him and the wall, his arms pinned on either side of her head to cage her in.

"_Damn it_, Rose!" he ground out harshly, a fist pounding the wall once in fury, "There are so many things I've never had the courage to tell you. I don't open up easily and still you've loved me, as broken as I am. If this is the only time I ever break down enough to come clean and tell you that I love you, give me that chance to say it. I have that right…it's the only thing I have to offer you, so please don't take that away from me." The last sentence came out in a hushed sob.

Rose searched his face with wide, brown eyes, swallowing thickly. Her heart felt torn, tattered, and yet it still ached for him, longed for his touch. His words both crushed her and saved her and she felt so confused inside. She slid a hand between their bodies and cupped the cheek she'd harmed earlier and did the only thing her mind was able to process. She kissed him.

* * *

Two years. It'd been two bloody years since her last fling with Captain Jack and it'd never been even remotely close to the pleasure the Doctor gave her. How the hell had she managed to forget what her husband could do to her that left her completely spent and beyond satisfied – _with just his hands_? Granted, Jack was _far_ from a novice and he could've done so much more with her had she actually let him, but Rose refused to take it beyond the simple concept of need, never involving matters of the heart. Now she knew she'd been right to do so. Her love would always belong to the man in her arms, whether he had one heart or two hearts beating strongly within his chest.

When her strength finally returned to her limbs, Rose sat up and took a chance to peer into her lover's eyes. The Doctor smiled and leaned forward, kissing her tenderly, slowly, savouring her lips with every passing second before he pulled back to nuzzle her nose affectionately. One arm wrapped around her waist to support her back while his other reached up to brush small circles on her cheek.

"I don't deserve you, Rose," the Doctor murmured and Rose could see the storm of emotions warring deep within his soul as he stared deep into her chocolate eyes. Remorse for all the things he'd never said to her mixed with the burning desire to prove to her how much he truly loved her. She found herself lost in that sea of turmoil, her heart going out to him just as it always would.

A large part of her felt guilty for the way she'd lashed out at him. None of it was ever his fault so in all honesty, shouldn't she be saying those words to him instead?

"No, you don't deserve me," Rose admitted, her hands straying across his chest in fervent need to keep touching him. "You deserve so much better, really. I shouldn't have said those things to you. None of it was your fault…I jus'," she bit her bottom lip, worried it between her teeth and her hands came down to settle feebly in her lap as she struggled to find the words.

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but she quickly hushed him with a chaste kiss. She needed a moment to compose herself, get her thoughts and feelings out in the open before anything else happened between them.

"'M sorry," she continued after her pause, "for what I said, Doctor. I don't hate you, never have…never could, and never will. I… I've missed you _so_ much and I've been alone for so long…and for centuries I've torn myself to pieces because I never had the courage to say goodbye. I begged you to stay with me, couldn't let you go…and I don't think I have the strength to let you go again!"

She sounded a bit frantic to her own ears but her words were nothing but the truth. The Doctor studied her, cradling her face in the palms of his hands and he brushed a stray tear from her cheek with a thumb. He chose his reply carefully, trying to reassure her that everything would be ok in the end. He would never leave her, she _had_ to understand that.

"Oh, but Rose! My brilliant, beautiful Rose," he breathed, his gaze soft and sincere. "Don't you see? You're not alone anymore! You've got him and through him, you still have me. Same man, remember? He loves you, more than the whole of Creation, and that's very _me_. Fury of a Time Lord; nothing more powerful in the Universe and yet we're hopelessly in love with a silly little pink-and-yellow human who holds our hearts in her hands."

Rose shook her head at the endearing title her Doctor always teased her with. She couldn't hide the tiny twitch of her mouth, the familiarity bring back fond memories of all the times he'd called her a 'pink-and-yellow human.'

"Was that a smile?" The Doctor seized the opportunity to distract her, a knowing gleam in his eye as she tried to look anywhere but at him. She was caught and she knew it and there was no way he was going to let it go.

"No," Rose replied, deciding that the ceiling was suddenly quite fascinating at the moment. She bit the inside of her cheek for good measure, knowing she was blushing all the same. She would not laugh or smile for any reason. This was a serious conversation…really.

"That was a smile," he sang back, leaning forward to trail his tongue down her neck because it was just too tempting to pass up with it bared so innocently to him.

"No, it wasn't," Rose squeaked back, caught off guard by his boldness but her hands wrapped around his neck anyway, pulling him closer with an unsettled sigh of pleasure as he began to suck the skin at her pulse point. So what exactly were they talking about again?

A tiny voice in the back of her mind wondered if they'd ever make it out of the hallway at the rate they were headed. Rose remembered all too clearly the many times their passion had escaped their bedroom in the heat of the moment. Fleeting memories of the couch, the living room floor, the bedroom wall, kitchen table, refrigerator, her mother's flower garden... Oh she should just stop right there. Bottom line, they probably weren't going to make it to the bed.

"So tell me, Rose Tyler," the Doctor broke into her thoughts, pulling away from her glorious skin to look at her, his eyes almost black with a hunger that made her stomach flip-flop in anticipation. "Where would you like this to be, hmm?" he husked, his voice dripping with sinful promise as he stole a kiss from her sweet lips.

"Should I take you here, up against the wall," he kissed her again with a little more heat, "or would you rather the floor?" Another hot kiss. "Or the stairs, never tried that one before." This time he ducked to nip her chin.

"Tell me what you want, Rose," he whispered against her ear, licking the outer shell as Rose gave a soft, shivering sigh in his lap. He was playing dirty and she knew it.

"Bed," she moaned, knowing she really didn't care where he took her, except they'd be most comfortable there.

"Quite right," he replied as Rose reluctantly climbed to her feet, grabbing his hands to drag him up from the floor.

They somehow managed to snog their way up the stairs, a stumbling mess of limbs and lips and clothes until they made it to the bedroom. Rose didn't want the foreplay, he'd already teased her enough and if she were being honest, the mental link with the Time Lord was at an all-time high.

"I can feel him," the Doctor mumbled against her skin as he peppered her with kisses. "I can feel you both, here, there." His hands roamed behind her back, diving down to squeeze her bum.

Rose hissed into his neck, biting the flesh there in reprimand, wanting and needing so much more than he was willing to give at that moment. She gasped when his hands squeezed a second time, only he lifted her up instead and her legs wrapped around him as he gently lowered her to the navy blue duvet on the bed.

The Doctor drew back then, positioning them both in the middle of the mattress and he gazed tenderly at his wife, his heart filled with so much love for her.

"I love you," he spoke, even as Rose shook her head at his words, her hand covering her mouth to stifle a strangled sob at his words.

"_We love you, Rose_," and Rose could hear the double echo from both within her mind and aloud. She gave a half-laugh, half-sob of joy, reaching to pull the Doctor down to her lips and two people became one.

"This is him, Rose," he murmured in her ear, "this is him, loving you...and this is me, loving you with him." His words rang true, filling her soul.

"Every time you feel this," he whispered against the hollow of her throat, "I want you to think of me. I want you to remember. I want you to feel it, and I want you to know it. To know that I love you, to know that he loves you just as much, that I'll always be with you and we'll love you together, him and me."

Rose was reduced to tears, but they were full of love for him this time. She couldn't stop touching him, unable to speak coherently because she was far too lost in her lover's grip to string full sentences together. She cried for him instead.

The Doctor praised her, kissed her full lips before he pulled back to gaze into her glazed eyes. He cradled her head between his arms and stilled above her to wipe the dampness from her eyes.

"Let this be goodbye, Rose," he said against her lips, "and when you go to him, when you love him and touch him and hold him, let it be hello."

* * *

Time seemed lost to them as the Doctor held her in his arms, kissed every bit of her face and hair, whispering words of love and promises of forever. Rose knew it then, knew he spoke the truth and she accepted it, giving back as much as he gave because he needed her just as much as she needed him. Because the Doctor was the Doctor, no matter what form or body he took. It would always be them, the Doctor and Rose Tyler, just as it should be.

* * *

End Author's Note: For the delayed update, I will gift my readers with chapter 17 as well. Enjoy and as always, reviews greatly appreciated! Thanks to my beta for her help in editing as well as proofing :)


	17. Chapter 17

And here is chapter 17 as promised, posted here on the same day as whofic since I was behind on chapter 16 editing.

Chapter 17

* * *

Rose glanced at the clock, the bright red numbers bleeding into the darkness to inform her that it was nearly three in the morning. She lay in bed, burrowed under her thick duvet with the love of her life spooned against her back, his hand drawing lazy circles on her bare stomach. They'd been like this for an hour, enjoying the peaceful silence between them as their bodies recovered from hours of passionate love making.

As much as she wished this could last, Rose knew her time was coming to an end. Soon, her younger self would stir and memory made it clear that her human Doctor would be at her side when she woke. He'd be there to hold her while she cried and he would never ask her why. From that point forward, their remaining few months would be the most passionate of times.

The Doctor leaned forward and placed a warm kiss on her shoulder, hugging her close to him.

"Talk to me," he spoke, breaking the thick silence between them.

Rose replied with a soft sigh and she turned to kiss him before slipping reluctantly from the bed. She fumbled for the lamp on the nightstand and flicked the light on, wincing as her eyes tried to adjust to the brightness. The Doctor sat up to watch her flit around the room.

"The TARDIS," she finally supplied, skimming the floor for the gold wristband that'd slipped from her bra hours ago; never did have time to get it on during her haste to snatch it back from the Dimension Cannon unseen.

"You wanna know _why_ we had that row back at the mansion? Why I asked you to leave and give me some space?" she asked offhandedly when she's found her prized possession by the closet door.

"I'll admit you were acting a bit strange…" the Doctor replied, sitting back against the headboard as Rose rummaged through her old clothes in the closet for a dressing gown. Memory told her to pick the green one, it'd gone missing around this time so it seemed fitting enough.

Decently covered — to keep the chill at bay, not to hide from hungry eyes — she joined him on the bed, sitting on his side with one leg tucked neatly under her while the other dangled off the bedside. She was only foot away from him, within easy kissing distance if the need ever arose.

"I got upset because I felt her. The moment the TARDIS came into this Universe, I felt her very presence and it ripped through my soul. I couldn't believe it, thought I was mental…and then I felt her dying. I didn't understand it…couldn't fathom what happened and I didn't know how to find her or what that would mean for him, for you, for us.

"I panicked and lashed out because I was terrified of what you might think if you knew." Rose spoke softly, her eyes glued to the band glittering gold in the lamp light as her fingers toyed with the delicate thing.

"I had to get you away so I could think and get to the bottom of it, make sure she…he…was safe. So I called up Jake and we met down at the pub. I didn't tell him about the TARDIS or what I felt, but I asked him for some advice because for a terrifying moment, all I wanted was to find the Doctor and run away with him again. I'd lost Mum and Pete and some monster was out to get me, we both knew that. It was hunting me, killing the people I loved and I was so scared."

She glanced up at her husband then, sighing heavily before continuing. "Jake's advice was simply to follow my heart. When he left, I didn't feel much better because I didn't know what my heart wanted and when that nutter kept bugging me, I left to either go back to the mansion or maybe in hopes of finding the TARDIS or _something_, even in the bloody rain.

"So when he saved me…imagine what I saw in those eyes, knowing that the TARDIS was gone… It broke me. It broke him. Things happened." Rose cleared her throat and blinked a couple times with a sniff.

"Point of the matter is that right now, the TARDIS is dead and we need to revive her. She's the only way we're getting back into the other Universe and I may hold the key to bring her back." She held up her Vortex Jumper as her mind touched the Time Lord's in a silent caress to wake him from slumber. He needed to make his way back to their ship. She had a plan and instinct suggested time wasn't exactly on their side.

"The Vortex Jumper?" her human Doctor asked as Rose placed it in his open hand.

"'S not the same anymore, you know? I've carried that band across Time and Space ever since you made it for me, but as clever as you are, you forgot one small detail when you forged it. You used a fragment of TARDIS coral from the infant Timeship growing in Laboratory Fifteen back at Torchwood. She's a young ship, not fit to fly for another few years at the very least, but she's attuned to the energy in this Universe, not the one I'm from.

"I couldn't use it once I crossed over. A…friend of mine, she edited your work a bit and managed to weave a fragment of the original TARDIS into the core of the band to make it compatible between both Universes; one fragment for each Universe."

The Doctor stared at the gift he'd crafted for his wife, a wedding present he'd designed just for her. Rose was mentally bonded to the new TARDIS as well as the old one and with the band's core made of TARDIS coral, the ship would always be physically connected to his wife.

Through that connection, it would shield and protect her within the Void when she made her jumps, the very mechanics of her Vortex Jumper based on dimension-travel technology that was far superior to that of a lowly Vortex Manipulator.

It gave Rose speed and accuracy…freedom. She could fly through Time and Space and the TARDIS would forever protect her from the dangers of such risky jumps. All she had to do was project a clear, solid image of where she wanted to go within the Universe and she'd be there in milliseconds.

She'd been bound to Pete's world though, considering it couldn't make Universal jumps. Plus, the stars here were different. Neither one of them knew the extent of what lay beyond the galaxy without their young TARDIS and Rose would never risk a blind jump.

Holding the precious band now, the Doctor could feel a difference in weight. It looked the same, but only to the untrained eye. It was just a bit wider and thicker to accommodate the extra coral.

Two different coral fragments…now that was amazing! And brilliant. The mind of a genius! Oh, and his Rose, she was utterly brilliant herself. If the TARDIS was truly dead, the fragment within the Vortex Jumper was surely humming with life. He could feel the dormant power seeping from it, thrumming happily within the safety of its shell.

"Think you can save her?" Rose piped up, breaking his train of thought with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

The Doctor grinned at her, realizing there was still hope for the old ship. "Oh, yes!" he crowed, and leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

For the first time in decades the Time Lord felt alive. More than alive, really. Fantastic. He stood motionless within the dark console room of his dead TARDIS, a place of sorrow and loss only hours ago when he'd thought his ship was beyond saving. Yet Rose had done the impossible, once again defying the Laws of Time in an effort to save him from despair.

Oh, the Doctor knew he could have prevented this, all of it. He'd had the power to mend the state of flux that Rose and her unnamed alliance thought they created. A simple choice on his part would have reversed everything. Rose would never have crossed back into her home Universe. She wouldn't have endured the torment of living for eight centuries alone, without him…and she wouldn't have conceived his baby.

Yes, the Doctor had a chance to walk away from Rose and refuse her advances completely…but he'd cheated, the coward that he was. For one astonishing moment, the Time Lord had had the chance to catch a peek at Rose Tyler's Timeline. It took him by surprise to see the writhing ribbons of possibilities her life could have taken. After spending years puzzling over the obvious blind spots she seemed to possess, how could he resist such an opportunity?

The result? Rose Tyler died. He learned the hard truth of what his choice meant for her the second he dove into her Timeline. Walk away from this and she was doomed to a premature death and it was completely out of his control. Or, he could be selfish...he _would_ be selfish and in that selfishness, _he_ ended up being the man who set the turn of events into motion.

_Because_ he slept with Rose, she became pregnant and lived. Her Timeline continued. She managed to escape Pete's World with some help and thus lived centuries and experienced many things on her own. From his point of view, the Doctor has caused all of this, every last bit of it and while a large part of him felt guilty, selfish, and manipulative, his soul would not fault him for doing so. Rose was his very reason to keep fighting. She made him better, gave him hope, even now. Was he so wrong in saving her life, prolonging it? Had Rose herself not made an attempt to do the same with her real father?

The difference between them, though, was that the Doctor knew time here was still in flux, never a fixed point. He was able to alter Rose's Timeline because the possibility was always there. It gave his hearts hope and with that hope came a reason to live again, a reason to fight for the Universe. Only this time, he'd have one Rose Tyler by his side and that made him feel alive inside.

Rose mentally brushed the edges of his awareness, seeking his help to guide her to the TARDIS. They were ready to join him now and she had no idea where the ship was and she wouldn't risk a blind jump. The Time Lord obliged, focusing on one spot by the control panel in the dark console room before projecting the image back to Rose. It was a simple touch of his mind to hers, nothing big or overwhelming, but the effects left his mind and body craving so much more.

The Doctor knew now why he'd only forged a partial bond with the younger Rose, though it'd been one heck of a challenge to do so. It was quite obvious that Rose and Jack had had a…thing…during his long absence from her life. Whatever it was — and he would not mull over that possibility — it would have been impossible for her to cope with had a full mental bond been forged between them.

Ok, so it didn't take a genius to figure out that Jack's relationship with Rose had been sexual. And technically, the Doctor had absolutely no right to be jealous - as much as he wanted to kill Jack over and over until he ran out of _infinite_ lives. But aside from that…the Doctor understood Rose needed the freedom to seek comfort from someone who'd be there for her during her journey up to this point in her life. She'd had no one for centuries…and Jack had been there for her while the Doctor had not.

As selfish as the Doctor was, he'd done that much for Rose and left a gap between them, freeing her from an inescapable commitment that would have bound her to the Time Lord forever. It gave her the freedom to take care of herself on her own terms, even if it meant she'd one day seek the touch of another man's hands. However, that's where he drew the line. The Doctor was ready to claim what was his and Jack would never touch her again.

At that point, Rose and her late husband winked into the room. His metacrisis clone stumbled a bit, catching himself on the console unit as the blonde beauty beside him giggled at his clumsiness.

"Will never get used to that, eh?" the man in blue pinstripes chuckled, fixing his jacket.

Rose merely shook her head and took in the TARDIS's interior before setting her eyes on the Time Lord. She noted his state of unease, the man now forced to face his human copy for the first time since dumping the pair of them off on Bad Wolf Bay.

Her husband followed her gaze and simply beamed at his other self, striding over to take his hand with a vigorous shake.

"Hello, dear brother! Long time no see," he greeted warmly. "Haven't aged a day, have you?"

The Time Lord observed his metacrisis self a moment, his face serious as he considered the man who'd had the life he so desperately wanted. Then he grinned, because, hell, he was getting that chance now!

"Oh, you know, same old Time Lord, me. But look at you! You look fantastic. Even kept the suit, I see. Not even a grey hair! Ten years for you and not a single grey hair. I'd say we age rather well, wouldn't you agree?" The hand shake was returned with equal enthusiasm.

"Yes, well, Superior Time Lord Biology, us, even if I am part human! Oh, there's so much I wish to share with you. I'll admit that my Time sense has dimmed a bit and I've lost a large chunk of telepathic sense as well, but, still the Doctor, as always. Guess our chat will have to wait, though, need to get this old girl up and running again," the metacrisis gave a nod toward the console, and the Time Lord agreed.

"Right then, let's get to it," the Doctor in brown chirped loudly, a spark of life glowing about him that Rose hadn't seen since the show down between him and the King Vampire, except, the glow was now so much brighter.

Rose settled on the jumpseat as her two Doctors got to work gutting the TARDIS console. The base panel was removed, along with a couple of grated floor sections and soon the surrounding space was littered with frayed wires, cut cords, bits and bobs of various sizes and colours. The sound of manic tinkering, whirring sonic screwdrivers, random curses from unexpected electric sparks, and animated conversation filled the otherwise quiet room for the next hour.

"Above all else, I miss the travelling," the Doctor in blue was saying as he rewired a small circuit board in his lap. Both men were on the ground, one sitting up while the other in brown was on his back, his upper body lost under the console itself.

"What about the TARDIS coral I gave you?" the Time Lord asked as he pulled himself out of his makeshift cave with a handful of new wires.

"Oh, she's a brilliant little ship!" the metacrisis replied affectionately, "But, the energy here's been hard for her to adjust to. Slowed down her growth by several years. Probably won't ever get to see her fly in my lifetime, but she's still a precious little thing. Bonded with Rose before I even had a chance to introduce myself properly, cheeky girl!" He laughed as he said this, winking at Rose when she playfully glared back at him.

"Oi, s'not my fault she likes me so much!" Rose defended with her favourite tongue-in-cheek smile.

"Suppose not, but I still say you cheated." He argued without heat.

"And maybe I did," Rose shot back, still grinning.

Both Doctors paused to stare at her, noting her tongue between her teeth before they both blinked, cleared their throat, and then looked at each other, muttering "humans!" under their breath with matching blushes.

Rose stared back at them for a moment and then burst into laughter, their look of startled shock at what they'd just simultaneously repeated too much for her to keep a straight face. It reminded Rose of identical twins and in a way, she guessed they were now more like brothers than incarnations of the same man, to a point.

A few coughs and mutters later, her Doctors were back at work and left Rose to her musing as she silently stood and fluttered around the room. Half an hour later, most of the mess was neatly organized and bundled up into sections, all wires connected and ready to go.

"Rose, we'll need your band now," the metacrisis broke into her thoughts and Rose covered her precious treasure almost as if to protect it from harm, but she agreed with nod and slipped it off her wrist.

"It won't hurt them, will it?" she asked, referring to both TARDISes because they were physically connected to the band via the coral fragments within its core.

"Shouldn't cause any harm, Rose, they're a lot stronger than you think," the Time Lord reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder with a gentle squeeze.

Handing the Vortex Jumper over to her late husband, Rose stepped back to give them room to work. Two clamps were placed on either side of the band and then the Time Lord soniced the last remaining wires, sealing the connection. With a shrug toward the console, he directed his human clone to the levers and dials needed to jump-start the TARDIS's heart, placing the clamped band on the floor.

The Doctor joined Rose away from the wired mess as the metacrisis flipped the correct sequence before joining them and together, they held their breath. Five seconds later and the TARDIS pulsed with a heavy hum, electrical sparks flying from the centre console and the lights flickered to life. She was alive!

Everyone erupted into cheers of triumph and Rose launched herself into the Time Lord's arms, kissing him firmly on the mouth. The act both startled him and shocked her, though more so because she's done it in front of her husband. She flushed and stepped back from the Doctor, biting her lip with embarrassment but he wasn't finished with her, snagging her wrist to yank her back into his arms, returning her kiss with a burning passion of his own.

When he finally let her go, Rose had half a mind to drag him to the nearest bed, but reality again reminded her they were not alone. However, at a corner glance, she found the human Doctor grinning like a mad man. Apparently, this rather amused him.

"I'll j-jus', um," Rose stammered, slipping free from the Doctor's embrace, very much flustered. "Just gonna head to my room, give you two some space to catch up, yeah? TARDIS will need some time to recoup anyway." With that she fled the room, a hand secretly hovering over her lips to savour the taste and feel from the kiss that managed to steal her breath away.

The men watched her go, the Doctor in brown pinstripes with a giddy smile on his face after snogging the life out of Rose. He'd always wanted to do that, snog her for the hell of it rather than out of emotional desperation of some sort or another.

"Yup, still got it!" and the both of them laughed.

* * *

It would take five hours for the TARDIS to fully charge after her brush with death but for the most part, her systems were functional. The lights were no longer dim and the Doctor ran diagnostic scans to make sure her recovery went smoothly. When he was satisfied with the results, he turned his attention back to his clone.

"There's something I need to show you," the Doctor finally admitted after glancing over his shoulder down the corridor from the console room. His human self sensed the importance of that statement and gestured for him to lead the way.

The pair walked silently down the hall together until the Time Lord paused at the medical bay door. He gave a decisive sigh before entering the room and then he locked it for good measure, just in case Rose came looking for them. Not that he wanted to keep secrets, but Rose didn't need to overhear this conversation, at least, not yet.

"So, there may have been more than one reason as to why I slept with Rose," he blurted out, rather bluntly as he made his way to the other end of the room where a set of machines sat up against a wall.

The metacrisis gave him a quizzically cautious look. Not that he'd be surprised if his actions had been for…scientific purposes, but if that was the only reason he'd put her through this hell, Time itself wouldn't save the mighty Lord of Time from his wrath. He waited for him to continue, giving his other self the benefit of the doubt that there was more to it than that.

"Oh, don't give me that look!" the Doctor chided, noting the tense stance of his…brother. Yes, brother sounded a lot better than clone. Brother it was, then. "You know what Rose means to me because you were me, are me. However, there's something you should know about the Rose you were with tonight."

Wheeling one particular machine away from the wall, the Doctor wired it up and plugged it into a large monitor.

"Is that…what I think it is?" his brother asked as he watched the converter charge up.

"Yep! Dimensional Dream Converter, the one and only. Never thought we'd ever use it, eh? Works like a champ, she does!" the Doctor replied with a pat to the bulky thing.

He sobered up then, his expression dark and full of concern as he got serious with the issue at hand. He faced the human Doctor and gave a heavy sigh, measuring the weight of his words as he tried to explain the situation he was now faced with.

"As you know, the Rose Tyler here with us is over nine centuries old. She's seen and done things I can't possibly imagine and there's…something dark lurking within the subconsciousness of her mind. When I was with her, the younger Rose, I had to see for myself if she'd been tainted with it then. She was clean. When our minds merged, I felt the difference between them. I want you to watch this…tell me what you think."

The Doctor flipped a few buttons and the monitor that hung from the ceiling in the middle of the room sprang to life and the events of Rose's memories he'd recorded played themselves out. He had to fast forward the bits that weren't significant to the problem at hand because they were tight on time, but when the golden wolf came into play, he noted how his brother hissed in distress and he let the man rewind and replay whatever he wanted to observe. Finally, he paused at the replay, right as the wolf lunged at the screen with the intent to kill.

"That's a Temp'ral Guardian," his brother spoke with haunting concern, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"My point exactly. I had my suspicions…but I wanted a second opinion. This isn't exactly universal knowledge and should be _impossible_, given the origins." The Doctor shook his head in frustration as he scowled at the screen.

"Only a Time Lord can plant a Temp'ral within someone's mind, and they're meant to protect the person, not harm them," the human Doctor murmured, deep in thought. "Yet that thing is hostile, as well as unstable. Almost like two personalities warring with each other. Bloody thing tried to maul itself!"

"Yes, I thought it was Rose trying to fight her way out of it, too. Now I'm not so sure it was her. My biggest worry is where it came from. I never did this to Rose and I never would. Someone else tampered with her mind, put that thing in it. I believe…can't even begin to grasp how she did it…but I believe Rose managed to reach Gallifrey…before the Time War, _long_ before the Time War," he whispered the last sentence because it was hard to bring up his darkest of sins for any reason. Thinking about his precious planet was hard enough, but the War and all the blood on his hands from it was enough to shake him to the very core.

His brother in blue put a comforting hand on his shoulder, equally disturbed and distressed because they shared the same mind with those memories and it took the both of them a couple minutes to compose themselves.

"I'll admit…it's such a far-fetched possibility. Gallifrey…it's an event horizon, a boundary that can't be breached in the past, present, or future because of the Timelock but at this point…the word 'impossible' doesn't seem to apply to the Universe anymore. If…if she somehow made it there…" the Doctor tugged at his ear, unable to finish the sentence.

"…then another Time Lord had the chance to tamper with her memories. She would have been killed on spot, had they found her! Rassilon would have seen to that immediately," the human Doctor hissed in displeasure. He was pacing the room now as he spoke in agitation.

"What if she managed to find a place to hide? Made a friend or two to help her out?" the Doctor suggested as he began disassembling his machine since it was no longer needed.

"Yes, but for how long? If she actually made it there in one piece… Oh, I've got a migraine in the making, I can feel it."

"Come here," the Time Lord commanded, a hand catching his brother's arm to stop his pacing. "This will go a lot quicker with a lot less talking," he said as he held up his fingers suggestively. The clone may have lost his telepathic sense, but any telepath could tap into another's mind with basic touch.

The metacrisis thought about it for a moment and then gave a nod of agreement before his brother placed cool finger tips on either side of his temple. The transfer of memories was quick and painless, and within moments, he realized that Rose had indeed managed to somehow find her way to Gallifrey. And Susan…she'd been the one to bring her back here, dropping her off on Jack's doorstep fifty years prior to her reunion with the original Doctor.

"So she made it to Gallifrey," he finally accepted in defeat.

"She made it to Gallifrey," the Time Lord echoed in agreement, removing his hands to stare at his brother. "Not that we can do anything about it now…but like I said, I needed a second opinion from someone who'd understand the complexity of this."

"Thank you for sharing this with me. If there's anything I can do…anything at all…I'll do my best to get it back to you, somehow. I'm working on this device, back at Torchwood. When I…die, I want you have my memories, because I'm you and you deserve to have them. Not sure how effective it will be, or if I'll even get it done in time. But! I _can_ do this for you now," the metacrisis offered with his hand in the air, wiggling his fingers as he smiled at his brother.

The human Doctor may have lost telepathic abilities, but he could still share his memories of the past ten years with his Time Lord self by simply remembering them. And so he did. When it was all said and done, both men had silent tears in their eyes and they simply hugged each other, feeling like true long-lost brothers reunited at long last.

-  
End Author's Note: If you're questioning the lapse in time in this chapter, remember...Time Machine. If that note just confused you, then don't worry about it! LOL THANK YOU for all the lovely reviews and I look forward to reading more :D


	18. Chapter 18

Long overdue chapter is finally here. My apologies. I had to replace my laptop and transfer all my stuff over. I have about three other excuses to tack on to that, but I'll spare you the details. However, my husband's really good friend is losing his 3rd fight with cancer and a good bit of my time has been/will be focused on helping him get through this. If I'm delayed in updating, keep that in mind. I did have a couple messages from ppl nagging me to update. My family and friends will always come first. -sigh- Now then, back to the story. Smut advisory for this chapter BUT this website has the edited version for teen reading so it's safe to read. For the unedited version, please head on over to **whofic** and find me under **Firewithin**. Link on my profile page.

Chapter 18

* * *

Rose found herself wandering the empty corridors of the TARDIS, her mind deep in thought. They still had three hours left before the Timeship could attempt any sort of travel and she'd already spent enough time hiding in her room.

Having officially tossed her Torchwood uniform in the rubbish bin, Rose had spent the better part of an hour scrubbing herself down in a cool shower before selecting a light blue shirt and simple pair of denim. Oh, and white trainers. Never thought she'd miss those blasted things so much in her life. Granted, she loved her heeled boots but...there was something to be said about the memories she'd made running in trainers at the Doctor's side, memories she was more than ready to embrace.

The lights flickered above, cutting into her thoughts and Rose jumped as a large set of ancient looking wooden doors highlighted in golden script materialized to her right. Odd…she'd never seen them before. While the TARDIS shifted rooms at random at any given time, this room in particular was unfamiliar to her.

Glancing around the corridor, Rose took a hesitant step toward the room to get a better look. "The Forbidden," she read effortlessly, her fingers tracing the intricate pattern of spheres before testing the ornate curved door handles. _Forbidden my arse,_ she thought with a cheeky smirk.

She had to put some muscle into opening just one of the massive doors and before she realized it, Rose stepped into blinding orange light. The surprise of what she saw caused her to stumble forward as the weight of the door wrenched free from her hands, closing behind her with a heavy thud.

"This is…" impossible? A dream? A hallucination, perhaps? How could she have missed something like this? She'd lived within the TARDIS for _decades_ at a time and not once had she ever found a room as extraordinary as the one she'd just stumbled into - and Rose Tyler knew her ship like the back of her hand.

Rose had to remember how to breathe as she took in the beautiful sight before her. This was home! With a disbelieving shake of her head, she toed off her trainers and peeled off her socks to feel the rich, gleaming red grass beneath her feet. The thick carpet was springy and cool, just as she remembered it before Gallifrey burned. Stifling a sob, she bounced a little on spot to savour the feel of the grass between her toes. Ok, so that part was real enough.

Ripping her eyes from the ground, Rose turned in a slow circle to gape at such impossible scenery. Logically, she knew she was still on board the TARDIS, but the room she found herself enraptured in was more like a forest in a massive bubble. She knew the ship had gardens, but this?

The clearing she stood in was thick with healthy red grass that extended out over a gently rising slope before plunging out of sight. Massive trees loomed in the distance, extending from left to right as far as her eyes could see. It created the sense that one was about to embark on a mysterious hike through something so sacred…and were those birds chirping in the background?

Rose approached the line of trees with caution, still overcome with shock; this just had to be some sort of dream. It took her a few minutes to get there; maybe 'massive' was an understatement.

She recognized the first of three different tree species within her line of vision, stopping to pluck the leaf of a Sickle-plum tree. A smaller specimen that grew to about fifty feet, it had hand-sized, bluish leaves, flaky, white bark, and supple, yellow fruit. Her Gallifreyan history reminded her that while ingesting the fruit itself was toxic to the people of Gallifrey, it was often eaten by some of the wild fauna there.

Rose dropped the leaf and moved on to the next variety she recognized, caressing the muddy brown, sleek trunk of a Wild Ashid. It dominated the majority of the alien-made forest, the rich green needles similar to pine trees on Earth, only they smelled of citrus and honey-suckle and lacked pinecones altogether. They topped out well over two hundred feet and given the TARDIS's capabilities, it looked as if they'd already reached that height in their make-shift home.

Alongside those, Sliver Oaks twisted around their competitors, the tan branches weaving around foreign trunks much like vines, except they never touched the other trees. Rose couldn't quite think of them as trees, though the rough trunks were thick and sturdy; great for climbing. Diamond-shaped leaves bloomed at the end of each curvy branch and they ranged in colour from orange to red, much like the grass and sky.

Numbly, Rose strode into the shade of the trees and purposefully lost herself in the forest. The grass slowly faded from red to orange to green the deeper she went. She knew the colour change had to do with the lack of sunlight under the canopy because red grass required the full rays of both Suns to maintain its colouring. Still, the vegetation was unusually lush. Gallifrey itself had been typically dry and orange. The plant life flourishing here obviously received the utmost round-the-clock care.

The woods finally thinned out until a small, secluded meadow came into view. There wasn't enough sunlight to support red grass, but the greenery was beautiful without it. A brook gurgled happily just out of sight. The whole place literally sang to her, luring her in. Rose thought it the perfect spot to lie in, and so she did, settling in the very centre of the circle with her arms tucked under her head as she let days of old wander through her mind. Days of Gallifrey...days of home.

That's where the Doctor found her, his pink-and-yellow angel nestled in the soft green grass as she stared sadly up at the replicated orange sky. He paused to observe her from the shadows, resting against the trunk of an Oak until she sniffed and scrubbed at her face with the back of one hand. She'd been crying. He knew the look in her eyes, understood the depth of heartache there because he felt it just as strongly whenever he came here alone.

Pushing away from the tree, he made his way over to Rose and sat down beside her as she continued to lie there, resuming her endless stare up above. She didn't acknowledge his presence but seemed to accept it and he followed her gaze for a while, lost in his own thoughts before he finally summoned up the courage speak. Just as he opened his mouth, Rose beat him to it with a question of her own.

"How long's it been here," she sniffed, running the back of her hand across her face again to dry away more silent tears. "I know every nook and cranny the TARDIS has, 'cept your bedroom at least, but this room never existed."

The Doctor twisted to meet her eyes and then he turned so that he could lie down on his side to face her, one elbow propped under him with his hand supporting his head.

He never broke eye contact, a frown set in place as he considered her query. "I found this place soon after the Time War," he admitted after some time, his free hand reaching tentatively to seek out the comfort of her own. Rose accepted the gesture, lacing her fingers through his with a squeeze.

"I've no idea how it got here, or who seeded it to begin with. I just know it was there when I needed it most. It's where I usually hid when I wanted to be alone. All those times you lost me in the TARDIS…I was here."

Rose worried her bottom lip as she listened to his explanation. So she was right. Up until after the Time War, this place had never existed. So where did it come from? She took a deep breath and pulled their twined hands up between their shoulders, her thumb tracing pointless patterns on the back of his hand.

"Sorry," she felt the need to apologize, "didn't mean to intrude. Jus' never saw that door before and I know every room and corridor this ship's ever had."

The Doctor pulled his hand free from hers with a huff and gave her nose a light tap in reproof. "Don't apologize for this. In fact, I clearly recall telling you not to apologize to me about anything ever again."

Rose tensed and eyed the Doctor cautiously at his words. She took in his brown pinstripe suit, his face and hair – yes, full Time Lord Doctor laid out beside her, she was sure of it. Those were never _his_ words, though. They'd been said by her other Doctor, the one currently _not_ beside her.

Rolling onto her side to face him, Rose searched his face for answers before she finally understood what had happened. "He gave you his memories," she said quietly, noting how the Doctor looked slightly worried during her silent observations.

"Yes," he replied hastily, waiting for her to explode, yell at him…something. She did neither. Rose simply gave him a soft smile, a tender look about her that had his hearts flopping about unsteadily.

In truth, Rose had had centuries to adjust to the idea that the Doctor would one day have all of her husband's memories. Back when Gallifrey was thriving, a Time Lord's mind would often be uploaded to the Matrix when they died, allowing them to live, in a sense, forever. It wasn't hard to believe that her husband would wish to preserve his memories in a similar way. And…he'd been partly successful in doing it with a different sort of Doctor altogether, not including what may have been exchanged between her two Doctors now.

"You were always meant to have them," Rose sighed, propping herself up on one elbow like the Doctor while she ran her free hand through the soft green grass they laid on.

"You're not mad, then?" He needed reassurance, if only to make sure she wasn't hiding her true feelings on the matter at his expense.

"Not mad," she murmured, plucking a blade of grass to twist it between her thumb and forefinger. "Had quite a bit of time to think about that sort of thing, back home." By 'back home', she meant Gallifrey. "'Sides…in a way, I don't think he'll have ever truly died if you carry his memories. He's you, after all. Came from you, had your memories, thoughts, feelings. Is it not fitting that those would one day be returned to their rightful owner?"

The Doctor gave a nod of acceptance at her brilliant answer and then his gaze narrowed as he considered the end of her first sentence. "When you say _home,_" he pressed warily. Of course he would have noticed her choice of word there.

Rose flopped over onto her back, trying to bite back a groan. Maybe it was finally time to just let it all out and tell him about her past, however bittersweet and painful doing so would undoubtedly be…for him.

"Gallifrey," she whispered at last, giving in. He was a brilliant man and she was betting on his Time Lord brain to have at least figured out that much. She chanced a glance at him out of her peripheral and saw how tense his body had become. If she didn't have his full attention before, she sure had it now.

"How long," the Doctor asked when it seemed that Rose wouldn't continue. She bit her lip again, something she always did when she was either nervous or deep in thought. There was another length of silence before she turned her head slightly to look up at him.

"Spent about seven centuries there," she sighed, her expression soft, yet sad. "There was an…accident, a jump went wrong and…well, I woke up on an impossible planet. The…Doctor, he was trying to save me. Things got out of control."

The Doctor merely nodded for her to keep going.

"We were ambushed by an aggressive alien race I'd never met and it was a life or death situation. The ship we were on self-destructed, but I was able to get him safely back into his TARDIS with the Vortex Jumper…except, the creatures had a hold of my mind and they tried to use me as a bridge to get into his ship. I made a blind jump, knowing I'd get lost in the Void but it was worth it if it meant he'd be safe."

The Doctor's intake of breath indicated that he didn't like where this was going but she shrugged it off and gave him a pointed look. "Can't die, remember?" she reminded him.

"Continue, please," he coughed in response. Rose rolled her eyes; he would never change.

"Right…as I said, I made a blind jump to protect him but the Doctor wouldn't stand to let me…suffer like that. I believe he did something with a device he'd been working on to get me home. Whatever it was, it backfired. I was forced out of the Void into my home dimension but without direction, I was hurtled through Time and Space. When I landed, I lost consciousness. Well, more like crashed. Pretty sure I broke some bones on impact and even with my superior healing, I was out of sorts for over a week..."

Rose shifted to face the Doctor on the grass and gave him a moment to absorb her story as she ran her fingers through the springy vegetation. She wasn't watching him and his sudden grasp of her hand startled her. Her eyes snapped to his, taking in his molten stare and she realized he wasn't taking this information easily, though he was certainly trying to keep his tongue in check.

"'S okay, Doctor," she reassured him. "It's in the past, yeah? Nothing you can do about it now and I wouldn't change it for the world. I was found by your lovely Granddaughter, Susan. She took me in, healed my wounds and then helped hide me away."

The Doctor swallowed in reply, partly because he couldn't trust his voice just yet. Thinking of Gallifrey and his people was something he'd always avoided because the wounds were still too raw to touch, easily torn. Now he was forced to face the fact that his Rose was tangled with its history. He'd handled the thought much better in the medical bay with his brother because he had the tiniest bit of hope that their assumptions were wrong. A foolish thought, but still one he'd clung to. Add that nightmare to the hell Rose had had to put up with there and it was all entirely his fault!

Rose sensed his turmoil on the outskirts of her mind. She knew he was upset, understood how fragile his feelings were when it came to his long-lost home planet. It was the number one reason she never wanted to talk about it, knowing it would cause him pain. If she could protect him from it, she would...but if he had to ride out the storm regardless, she wouldn't let him face it alone.

"Come here," she whispered, her arms reaching out for him as she leaned up on one elbow to drag him to her. She hooked her free hand around his left arm, her other gripping the lapel of his jacket and drew him to lay half-way across her upper body, their faces just inches away as she settled on her back in the grass.

With gentle fingers, she worked her hands up his body until they settled on either side of his temple and then without so much as a warning, Rose dove into his mind, shattering the meagre barrier between them completely. When the Doctor jolted in her grasp from shock, she held on, refusing to let go physically as well as mentally. She needed this as much as he did and he would not run away from it.

"Let me in," she demanded in a hushed voice, "Show me. Share with me. I'm right here, always right here."

The Doctor breathed heavily against her lips, his expression that of a frightened beast caught in indecision. Should he run? _Could _he run? No…he didn't have the strength to run away anymore. His mind never comprehended the full risk of becoming one with Rose Tyler because he'd always thought it possible to keep his darkest demons to himself. Now he knew different.

He'd come here searching for answers but the reality of those answers meant he'd have to face the past, relive those sins. He didn't want to taint her and surely it would destroy her…but the Doctor was too weak to fight it any longer. He wanted to be whole again, and Rose was offering everything he needed to make him better. And he was selfish…would always and forever more, be a selfish prat!

"Rose," his voice cracked on her name and he was ashamed of the fresh tears in his eyes. Rose hushed him with the brush of her lips to his.

The Doctor responded immediately, his lips crashing back down on hers the second she pulled away. He prayed to whatever deity he didn't believe in that Rose would somehow survive the hell he was about to unleash within her…because he couldn't stop this. The chains around his mind, body, and soul clattered to the ground. She was there to catch him, embracing all that he was; past, present, future.

Rose opened up for him willingly, spinning a delicate golden web that became snared and twisted with the thrumming crimson strands of his own. She hissed in startled pain when the Doctor took full possession of her mind; he took everything she was, ever would be.

Her eyes slammed shut and she clawed at his shoulders as the chaos of his mind raged a bitter battle against her. She heard the agonizing echo of screams from millions of dying souls as Gallifrey burned between them. She felt his anguish and pain as he watched them all suffer. So much blood on his hands...Killer of his own Kind.

It didn't stop there. The volcanic eruption in Pompeii seared through his hearts, leaking into hers as they watched 20,000 people die to save the Earth. He felt every single one of them burn to death, heard their pleading cries for help and mercy and he could do nothing to stop it. Because that's how he saw the Universe, every waking second he could see what is, what was, what could be, and must not. The burden...no, the curse of a Time Lord!

Rose clung to him, her heart bleeding for him. Her nails bit into his back and shoulders and she fought back for some semblance of control. She was easily overpowered in the beginning, but now they were on even ground and she sought to soothe him. Her mind embraced his sins, accepted them and forgave them. It didn't matter; none of it mattered because she loved him.

That revelation stilled the Doctor completely and Rose met his wide, distressed eyes with a tender look of her own. As she slid a hand up to caress his cheek, she felt his body trembling against her. She decided to take advantage of the pause and snogged him for all he was worth, branding him as hers.

Rose took that moment to flood his mind. He'd assaulted her with his deepest, darkest secrets and she'd embraced it all in stride. Now it was her turn to share herself with him and she did.

"Rose!" the Doctor breathed in awe, his forehead tipped to hers as memories of a different Gallifrey engulfed him, a Gallifrey through the eyes of Rose Tyler.

Rose shared with him the beauty of the planet, reminding him of the rich, burnt orange skies, the twin sunsets, the forests of silver-leaved trees glistening in a fiery reflection at sunrise. She thought of all the creatures that scampered through the forest floors, the birds that flew above in towering canopies, and the rainbows of landscape that covered the globe in every region.

She focused on the people she'd met and grown to love along the way. Susan in her youth. His first regeneration. The TARDIS before he'd ever stolen the wonderful Timeship. He recognized his second, third, fourth, and fifth incarnations as she touched each one, hidden away on the TARDIS as he travelled with various companions and explored all of Time and Space. He saw his mother, and Susan again; she'd regenerated...twice? He'd never seen that incarnation but it was her, long blonde hair with a slim frame and brilliant blue eyes with a smile to match.

Then his sixth, seventh, and eighth bodies graced his mind, followed by the Master...and then there! Right there, neatly tucked into the shadows was a wolf, glimmering gold as it lay curled in the very corners of Rose's mind. It was just a glimpse, but he was there long enough to see the creature raise its head to lock eyes with him before ducking back down to bury its nose under its tail. Rose wasn't aware of it; she couldn't see or sense anything related to the wolf as it allowed this bonding to take place.

The Doctor was so overwhelmed with the depth of such joining that he couldn't stay still any longer. He peppered her with kisses, his hands dancing over creamy flesh. They were both aware of hushed words, Gallifreyan slipping between them in the form of _"love," "mine," "forever." _Rose was there to remind him that life was still worth living, worth fighting for and he would never be alone again.

They lost themselves in the passion of love, two people united as a single entity as their bond solidified into something unbreakable.

Sometime later, they lay quietly together in the grass. Rose was curled into his chest and she planted small kisses against damp skin. She was exhausted from lack of sleep and she had a bit of headache from such a forced connection. It'd been rough on her not-so-human brain but the hardest part was over and now they had time to heal and grow together with a fully established bond.

A small part of her was surprised at how peaceful she felt. There was no trace of guilt in this when thinking of her late husband who was somewhere within the TARDIS waiting for their return. That sore spot in her heart had finally healed...she was free.

* * *

The TARDIS's screen lit up, indicating a fully functional system fit for flying. The man dressed in his usual blue pinstripe suit gave the console an affectionate pat and he stood there waiting a minute longer before deciding to set coordinates back to the Torchwood facility. He needed to fetch Jack and figure out how to send them all back to the correct Universe. And...if he was being secretly honest with himself, he ached for the chance to do this again, to fly his TARDIS even if it was just this once.

The Doctor wasn't stupid. He knew where his Time Lord brother had scampered off to. Weeell, at least, not exactly_ where_ he was, but who he was with. After their conversation in the med bay, the man had left to find Rose in search of more answers about her involvement with Gallifrey.

The metacrisis didn't expect to see either of them for quite some time. A bond half-forged was an impossible thing for any Gallifreyan. Instinct would surely rise up to mend the break, especially when both had such strong emotional ties to that world. He'd seen it in her eyes more than once, such longing. It was her home just as much as it'd been his.

With a thick cough, the Doctor got back to the task at hand and readied the ship for Time travel. They were behind schedule and Rose had mentioned before that she remembered waking up at the mansion with him already there. Within moments, he eased the TARDIS into the vortex and began a mad dash around the console as he hit various buttons, levers, and dials until the Time Rotor stilled, confirming a rather smooth landing. He double checked the monitor and was pleased to find them exactly 6 hours back in time within Torchwood.

With a clap of his hands, the Doctor bounded down the ramp and burst into the room with a smile on his face. He glanced at the tired, annoyed expressions of his team as they all turned to face him. Then he realized that one Captain Jack Harkness and Miss Gwen Cooper were missing in action.

The Doctor raised a hand to scrub at the back of his neck. "Well, now. Where to begin?"


	19. Chapter 19

Oh, goodness. I hope I haven't lost everyone with this long overdue update. I'll admit that chapter 18 really screwed me up and I struggled with starting this next chapter because of it. Had to change many things to keep it flowing and re-wrote the beginning too many times to count. Nothing news-worth to report. Just taking it day by day. Anywho, enjoy.

Chapter 19

* * *

It didn't surprise him when Rose fell asleep. She was tucked against his side, his brown overcoat covering her form to fight the chill of a cooling atmosphere as the false suns began to set. Her head was nestled on his shoulder, tilted toward his right heart and an arm was draped possessively across his bare torso.

The Doctor took the time to memorize every detail of her face, so open and vulnerable as she slept. His gaze wandered over her smooth complexion, tracing each brow and delicate eye lid, the gentle slope of her nose, followed by the fullness of her lips. He resisted the urge to kiss them and moved on to the soft curve of her cheeks, still slightly flushed from their bonding. It was impossible to keep his hands still when he reached the fine line of her jaw, a stray finger brushing her skin until he reached her chin.

Rose stirred with a quiet sigh and tightened her grip around him but she didn't wake. The Doctor withdrew his roaming hand and leaned up to kiss the top of her head, turning to pull her impossibly closer.

He didn't deserve her. That was one thought that would forever plague him, regardless of who or what anyone said. Not that it mattered; his hearts would never let her go, so it was a moot argument to start with himself. Instead, he focused on the mind of his precious Rose, her presence firmly seated in the centre of his consciousness like a beacon of golden light to chase away the darkness. It was such a relief to have someone in his head again.

Her mind was surprisingly strong, he realized; _evolved_. The Doctor could feel the waves of telepathy humming from her consciousness, twisting and moulding to his in an intimate dance even as she slept. She'd craved their bond, ached for it for far too long. It was unique, her not-so-human brain and he felt it almost impossible to resist it completely. Maybe just a peek into her dreams...

The Doctor eased into her mind and promptly fell headlong into its depths; a startling sensation that caught him by surprise until his feet settled onto the not-quite-ground of her memories. White dominated his vision, covering the hallway walls, doors, and floor. He knew he shouldn't be here without her consent. The wolf seemed to disagree with him.

The golden beast appeared out of thin air, winking into view seven doors down from him. It stood calm and collected, head held level with its shoulders and the Doctor wasn't sure if it was friend or foe.

"I don't have much time," the wolf spoke at last, the voice soft and female...and familiar. "They are coming. Can you hear it?"

The Doctor stared back at the wolf. "I don't quite know what you're talking about," he said slowly, sizing up the beast before him. "'They are coming,' you say, but who?"

"Your song was ending," she answered instead. "But the beats have changed. The march of drums will call them home and the wolf will rise against them."

The wolf was talking in riddles, almost as if she wanted to tell him everything, but physically could not. It knew the future, _his_ future, and with that knowledge it was forced to protect the timelines. A true Temp'ral Guardian, then, meant to protect the mind and not harm it.

A snarl snapped him back to attention and the wolf shuddered with unsteady force. "We're losing control," she whined and then growled, fighting some internal battle. "Her song, the beats are numbered. Let her go!"

The last words were strangled from the wolf's throat as it turned on him, eyes flashing as a new personality took over its body. Before the Doctor could react, it charged him.

"No, wait!" The Doctor yelped, diving sideways to avoid attack and then he jolted awake in a dark forest, naked and trembling in a cold sweat with Rose stirring beside him. She sat up with him, disoriented, and pulled the heavy overcoat against her chest. She couldn't see his face in the darkness but he was panting heavily from an apparent nightmare.

"Doctor?" she groaned groggily, sensing his distress as he turned to her. He shook his head and grabbed for her, kissing her possessively. Rose didn't question him when he urged her back on the ground, tossing his coat aside as he shifted above her in need.

Sometime later, they managed to disentangle limbs in search of clothing and they helped each other dress in the moonless forest. Their refuge was eerily quiet, the birds tucked neatly in nests for the not-quite-night. Rose wasn't sure about the presence of insects here, but if they did exist, all were silent. Even the gurgling stream seemed muted.

The Doctor shook his overcoat free of debris and then slid it over Rose's shoulders wordlessly, sensing her discomfort at the cooler temperature. It was just the ghost of a touch between minds, but it was more than enough for him to pick up her basic thoughts. Right now she was tired, cold, and more than a little concerned but he wasn't going to address more than he had to, at least, not for the moment. There would be a time and a place for the inevitable talk, but right now, they had a bigger problem at hand.

"Time?" Rose asked as she took the Doctor's offered hand and followed him into the woods in the direction she hoped they'd come from.

"Time flows differently here," he said over his shoulder, giving her hand a comforting squeeze. "Gallifreyan fauna, Gallifreyan time zone. Keeps the plant life stable. We've been here six hours, ten minutes, and forty one seconds. However, we'll be roughly an hour and half behind schedule when we get back to the TARDIS console room. I got...distracted."

_You fell asleep and had a nightmare_, Rose didn't say.

The Doctor abruptly stopped and tugged her forward to face him, his eyes wide and scorching. "You could say that," he answered and Rose realized her error. With their bond fully established, she hadn't thought to rebuild her shields. "But let's not talk about that now, alright? We need to get back to the right Universe and we've dallied long enough."

Rose gave a slight nod before he leaned down and kissed her, taking an extra second to leave her breathless. Then he was pulling her along through the darkness until the trees thinned and cleared altogether. They hurried to the double doors and the Doctor heaved one of them open, nudging Rose through it first before following behind her. It closed with force and they both heard the lock latch into place.

"Bit protective of that?" Rose queried the TARDIS as the Doctor steered her along the corridor toward the console room. The lights merely flickered in response.

The jog back to the console room left Rose panting harder than usual and she chalked it down to lack of rest and the straining events of a rather long day. She paused by the centre console to discretely catch her breath as the Doctor checked the monitor on the opposite side. His brother was nowhere in sight.

"We've moved," the Doctor noted, eyeing the screen thoughtfully. "Somebody flew my ship." His face grew into a sly grin and he waggled his eyebrows at Rose before dancing around the console to take her hand.

"Come on," he commanded playfully. Rose could only smile back as he dragged her down the ramp.

* * *

White walls met the pair as Rose and the Doctor stepped from the TARDIS doors. The ship was nestled in a neat corner of what they could only guess was a supply room. On either side, bulky metal shelves climbed up the walls from floor to ceiling heavily laden with worn cardboard boxes and stacks of fresh printing paper. Old case files, office supplies, and even some cleaning equipment completed the confined space.

"Interesting parking spot," Rose commented as she picked her way through the mess to reach the cracked door into the hall. Why would her husband pick a place like that to park - no...it couldn't be! Could it?

Rose froze at the door and whipped around to re-examine the room, causing the Doctor to bump into her.

"What?" he asked, trying to follow her line of vision.

"That sly little arse! He landed here on purpose." Rose hissed to herself, ignoring the Doctor's stare. Oh yes, she knew exactly where they were now. It was impossible to forget a room like that after all the things she'd done in it...

The wheels finally clicked into place and the Doctor kept a straight face as he edged around behind her. "Are you blushing, Rose Tyler?" he whispered cheekily as he curled a hand on either side of her shoulders. She could sense more than see a devilish grin on his face and it only served to make her cheeks burn brighter. Oh God, he had _those_ memories too!

"I'll strangle him!" Rose growled, ducked from the Doctor's teasing grasp. She darted down the silent hallway to Torchwood's primary laboratory where the Dimension Cannon once stood tall and proud. If she noticed the random number of unconscious personnel slumbering on the floor along the way, she didn't mention it.

Whatever greeting the human Doctor was in for vanished when Rose stormed into the lab. "Blimey, what the hell happened in here?" she gaped as the Doctor staggered in behind her.

The place was a complete disaster. Heaps of paper littered the ground, some of it crumpled, and - more alarmingly- some of it singed. Cords and exposed wires were strung haphazardly all over the floor and poor Ianto was hopping around like a rabbit to avoid the snares. The Welshman gave Rose an apologetic smile as he stumbled up next to her and the Doctor.

"Forgive us, Rose, Doctor. We've got a mad scientist on the loose," the blue-eyed man joked, trying to hide the stress on his young face with a kind smile. Rose gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder and scanned the mess around them.

"You're tellin' me," she coughed, waving her hand in front of her face to clear the air. The room reeked of ozone and burnt paper with a hint of melting plastic. "What's all this then?" she asked, nodding at the chaos and the four remaining people in the room.

Like Ianto, everyone was wearing the standard white lab suits that all Torchwood employees shared. She recognized the petite Japanese woman, Tosh, who was bent over a large computer monitor. Her fingers flew across the touch screen, occasionally pausing to adjust the red spectacles on her face or to brush a strand of ebony hair from her eyes. The woman was a computer genius with some of the very best ratings in Torchwood so Rose expected to see her front and centre of any mess her Doctor got into.

The computer at Tosh's mercy was actually new and did not belong in the lab at all. A fat coil of cords spewed from the back end of the machine, flowing across the small wheeled table it sat on before spilling onto the ground to be lost in a huge sea of multicoloured cables. Those cables split and tangled with other masses of cord until Rose thought her eyes would pop trying to follow their path.

Gwen Cooper, the Welsh spitfire with flowing black hair and hazel eyes, waved cheerfully at Rose from across the room and then twisted the cap off a bottle of water to down the contents. Before Rose could call a greeting her way, the woman swayed and slumped against the wall behind her.

_Ret-con water_, Rose thought sadly as Gwen slid peacefully to the ground. That's when she noted that Owen Harper, the pinch-faced medic of her old team was also passed out on the floor from where he'd been working through a pile of papers beside Gwen. A small snore to her right announced that Ianto had also been drugged.

"You're a tad late," a muffled voice accused from the middle of the room. The Dimension Cannon was in disarray, set in the centre of the lab with one large panel removed displaying the guts of the system. Two blue legs stuck out from inside the unit and Rose could hear the familiar whir of a sonic screwdriver as her late husband sorted wires.

Bracing his hands on the outside shell walls, the metacrisis hauled himself from his cave and graciously accepted the Doctor's offered hand. Once standing, he brushed bits of dust and metal fibres from his clothing and regarded his brother and Rose with mild amusement. The Time Lord stepped back as Rose joined his side, both flustered but not in denial.

"Yes, sorry about that," the Doctor in brown chuckled without sincerity as he stuffed both hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. Rose could only describe him as smug.

"Oh, no need," his human clone scoffed with a wave of his hand. "Everything's been sorted. Jack and Lois finished up the ret-con procedure, I've already wiped all computer and CCTV systems and Tosh is almost done with fabricating a nice cover story for our little stunt. You two just need to drop me off back at the mansion as soon as I get the rest of this mess cleaned up. Care to join me?"

As wires were disconnected and equipment stored away, the human Doctor filled them in on the action they'd missed. "It was Jack's idea, actually! Seems living in Cardiff taught him more about the Rift than he cared to admit." He was almost yelling to be heard because his head was once again lost within the Dimension Cannon. He soldered his last wire and climbed out to drag the side panel into place.

Rose jogged over to help him hold the metal sheet and he sealed up his pet project, giving it a tender pat.

"That's how we got back, then? Through the Rift?" She asked when he tucked his sonic into a pocket. From what he'd told them, they'd already crossed over to their home Universe. Roughly half an hour ago, the Rift had split open and their future selves had appeared in time to gather Jack up and go.

"Yep!" her late husband beamed, popping the 'p' with a grin. "Jack had it all figured out. The Rift acted as a bridge between Universes and the Dimension Cannon was the vessel and conductor for all that energy. The walls of reality are left safe and intact, no holes to worry about."

As he spoke with all that bubbling energy, the man in blue bounced on the spot, rocking on the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes with his hands held behind his back. He was clearly excited, even if all the commotion had already passed for him. Rose, however, did catch the exhaustion in his bright eyes and it pained her to remember that he wouldn't be getting any sleep when he got back to the mansion.

"This also solved a huge puzzle I couldn't figure out," he continued, oblivious to her musing. "It'll take me a few months of tinkering yet, but between my brilliance and Tosh's skill, I think I can get this beast safely to your Universe in time to keep the Timelines safe."

The Time Lord came up behind Rose and boldly slipped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder as he pulled her close. There was no sign of jealousy between the two men, just silly grins of acceptance - which reminded Rose of the Doctor's choice in parking...

"Oi!" her husband yelped in surprise. Rose, still in the arms of the Time Lord, had taken the opportunity to punch his arm in retaliation. "What was that for?!"

"The supply room? Really?!" she huffed, crossing her arms and leaning into the supporting body behind her. When said body began to shake with silent giggles, Rose dug her elbow into the man's side as punishment. The inside joke between the two was not amusing.

"Ah," her husband said, face suddenly innocent. He then coughed and turned his back to them both, but not before shooting his brother a wink.

"Excuse me," Tosh intervened, saving both men from further injury, "but I'm almost finished here, Doctor. Is there anything else you need me to do before I go downstairs?"

"Nope! We've done all we can do here for now, Tosh. Thank you. Everyone else ready to go?"

Rose peered around the room to inspect their work, noting that everything was back in place as if nothing had ever happened. The plan was to leave the ret-conned victims where they'd fallen and blame the system crash on a powerful lightning strike. The Doctor had his tale memorized down to a scientific fact and she knew their cover story would work. He would explain everyone's 'memory loss' and collapse as aftershocks from electrocution and Tosh would play along with it.

"Right, then. Let's wrap this up," her human Doctor said and then he yawned.

Rose made a decision. "Not until you've had some rest," she stated and grabbed both men by a wrist to drag them back to the TARDIS. They were wise enough to obey her as she led them back to the ship with her human Doctor waving helplessly at Tosh. When the door was shut behind them - after a significant pause and glare in the supply room - the Time Lord gently broke away and headed to the console. He danced around the controls and set the TARDIS into motion, his ship humming to life as she dematerialized from the lab.

When the wheezing time rotor stilled, he glanced up at his passengers with innocent eyes. "What?"

Rose was glowering at him. Had she not just said his brother needed rest? She was not about to send him back to the mansion as tired as he was.

"Oh, come on, Rose. Seriously? I'm not that rude! I simply moved the TARDIS to a safer place to preserve the Timelines. We're outside of Torchwood now, say about," he glanced at his imaginary wrist watch, "eleven fifteen at night."

Her glare faded into a tired sigh and she shuffled across the grated floor into his arms. She lingered there for a moment, enjoying his comforting embrace until he kissed her hair and pushed her away toward his brother. "Go on then, get some rest."

"But..." She hesitated. She felt torn between two men, wanting to stay with her Doctor while aching for the chance to be in her late husband's arms one last time.

"Rose," the Doctor called from the console, a knowing look in his eyes, "It's okay. Go with him."

She relented with a nod, for once giving in to the fact that he'd made the decision for her. Her husband offered his hand and Rose couldn't contain the soft uplift of her lips as he led her from the room.

"And I mean _**rest**_! The act of sleeping. Understood?" the Time Lord's voice echoed down the corridor, causing the pair of them to burst into fits of giggles.

* * *

They got five blessed hours of sleep before a knock on Rose's bedroom door woke them. The Doctor gave them privacy, not even testing the door to see if it was unlocked - which it was. There was no need for locked doors here. In fact, Rose had only ever bothered to lock her bedroom door when there were other passengers travelling along with them. When it was just the Doctor, she'd always left it open for him.

Rose yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, grateful for the rest. While she didn't need as much sleep as she once had centuries ago, the events of the past few weeks had worn her down immensely. Even more pleasing was the relief she felt when greeting the man beside her.

Her husband, part human but still so alien and _Doctor_, warmed her heart with a tender smile and kiss as he stretched in her bed. "Lights on," he called, thrilling at the simple task of controlling the lights via voice command. The TARDIS obliged as she lit the lamps on either side of the bed with a soft glow. How he missed his precious ship.

The Doctor shrugged off the covers and leaned up on one elbow to stare down at his wife. In the privacy of her TARDIS bedroom, he could see the changes in her that he'd missed back at their flat. Her physical features - soft, creamy skin, strong and vibrant body — had remained unchanged over the centuries. She kept her hair dyed blonde as well. Her eyes, though, so piercing and deep, had aged.

It broke his single heart to see the centuries buried there. She shared with him and his brother a burden of unrelenting Time. It made him feel even worse that she'd been alone without a hand to hold, specifically his, for the majority of that time. Still, there was something different now, nestled within her gaze that had been missing just hours ago. He searched her gold-flecked orbs, trying to grasp the change she'd accomplished. It was...peace.

With care, the Doctor raised his free hand and ran his fingers gently through her hair. Rose lay on her side, facing him with her head at the edge of her pillow and she sighed in contentment, her eyes trained on his.

"Hello," she whispered breathily, leaning into his touch.

"Hello," the half-dressed Doctor murmured back, dipping down to brush his lips against hers.

When he pulled away to watch her, a question bubbled to the surface before he could stop himself. "Was it worth it?" He asked, feeling helpless because he truly needed an answer.

He could let this beautiful woman go because he still had her, the younger Rose Tyler, neatly tucked away at the mansion. And he hoped he'd have the strength to be the man she'd need him to be over the next few months... but to be honest, the metacrisis was suddenly terrified; Time was ticking away, every breath bringing him one step closer to the day when his life would be taken from her. So he had to know...was his life...his sacrifice...worth it, in the end?

Rose swallowed the lump in her throat, reading into his words and the flash of memories made her breath catch. But the moment passed and she considered her reply carefully, wanting to be honest with him.

"I've lived through so many lifetimes and seen so many things." she began, seeking his hand and weaving her fingers through his. "Some time ago I wouldn't have even been able to answer that question...but now I know I can. It's worth it, yeah. You will always be worth it," she added, her vision blurring for a second.

Her words gave him courage inside to accept his future and he let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding. Even if her answer had been less than soothing, the Doctor would have never tried to alter the Timelines...but at least he had the encouragement to stand behind his duty to keep Rose safe. His days were numbered but he would make the most of them.

"Florida." He stated, coming to some conclusion. Rose was on her back, staring at the ceiling like her husband and her eyes broke from their trance-like state to peer over at his gentle smile.

"T'was a lovely trip," Rose hummed in agreement, matching his grin from her pillow.

"So I _do_ take you there," he confirmed with a decisive nod to himself, squeezing their still-joined hands.

Rose refused to give him any more hints about his future and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "Come on, then. Time to join the Doctor in the console room."

With a bit more reluctance and lingering slowness, they floundered around the bedroom for clothing. If they stole secret kisses or hidden touches along the way to their destination, neither one of them would admit to it.

They met the Time Lord in silence, parting only when they reached the console.

"Everyone ready?" the Doctor asked, looking from his human brother to Rose. His expression was neutral, almost unreadable but his eyes were soft and accepting, glowing green from the reflection of the Time Rotor.

With a slight nod and half-grin, the human Doctor agreed and looked to Rose, who copied his example. They were as ready as they'd ever be and quite frankly, he couldn't trust his voice to speak right that second.

"Right," the Doctor in brown said with a deep sigh before tipping his head toward Rose. "Rose, if you'll cover the controls there to your left. Brother, the ones on your right?"

The three of them spread out around the centre console and the Doctor set the main coordinates for the Tyler mansion. With a glance and final nod at his companions, he triggered the dematerialization sequence and tensed for the onslaught of button chaos. The intricate dance that followed as they flew their Timeship filled their hearts with laughter and grins and would never be forgotten.

* * *

"Remember, the Rift splits open at 5am in the morning and you must be parked in the centre of the Dimension Cannon when that happens." The human Doctor instructed the pair at the bottom of the ramp. "Jack will have already talked his way out of his bonds and Tosh will be powering up the Cannon for activation. If anyone knows the Rift and how to manipulate it, it's Jack and he's got everything under control. And don't worry about me. You'll have just enough time to grab Jack and go."

"Yeah, okay." Rose agreed quietly. She was having a hard time talking past the lump in her throat. She'd been strong enough for her goodbye five minutes ago. Not so much, now.

The Time Lord stepped up and offered his hand to his brother. When they shook hands, they sort of eyed each other up and down and then with a 'what the hell' shrug, they yanked each other into a firm hug. They needed no words. Same man and all...

Rose waited until they stepped back and then the Doctor gave her a significant look before slipping into the TARDIS. He'd give her all the time she needed.

"Well," her husband began, breaking the thick silence between them. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, glancing up at the dark sky as he fought for the right words to say. He hated goodbyes...but this really was his last chance to say it.

He turned to face her then, taking in her windswept hair as blonde strands played carelessly in the wind and the flush of her cheeks that he could barely make out in the dark. Her eyes were downcast, hidden in the shadows and her teeth worried her bottom lip as she struggled to reel in her emotions. Her blue shirt strained against her chest, pulled tight because her arms were twined together behind her back and she shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"Rose Tyler." His tone of voice, heavy, yet gentle, snapped her attention to him and he held her gaze a moment, drinking in as much of her as he could. Ever so slowly, he raised a hand to her cheek, cupping it and stepping closer until the space between them no longer existed. His thumb stroked her skin tenderly as he searched her glistening, brown orbs.

"Rose," he breathed her name and then he kissed her, softly. He pulled back, only to kiss her again, this time with a little more heat.

Rose stood frozen against him, unable to respond until his third kiss lit the fire she'd been trying to keep extinguished. She thawed under his touch and melted into his arms, kissing him back fiercely. Her hands dove up and into his tousled hair, grabbing fistfuls to elicit her favourite growl. The bite of something solid against her back went ignored as her world became one thing, one man who was currently snogging the life out of her.

It ended all too soon, the battle of his lips on hers weakening before leaving to shower her face, jaw, and then neck with butterfly kisses. When he pulled away, they were both a dishevelled mess, panting like marathon runners and Rose took it upon herself to try her best to fix his hair.

"Sorry 'bout that," she murmured between breaths, checking over her work.

Her husband chuckled, not the least bit bothered by his hair and tipped his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he sobered up and pulled back just enough to look at her clearly. He swallowed hard, the words he desperately wanted to say lodging in his throat. It'd been so easy to say them hours ago after years of having the inability to do so. Now he was choking on them, again!

"S'okay," Rose whispered, placing a finger to his floundering lips. "But for the record, I love you too." She held her breath and counted to five to keep the tears in check. "You should probably head back, yeah? I need you in there," she said, her voice thick.

"Of course," the Doctor coughed, sniffing because his emotions were starting to fray at the seams. He did not want to leave her, present or future. But he would let her go, he didn't have a choice...and she wouldn't be alone, never again.

It was with that thought in mind that the rope around his throat slipped free. "I love you, Rose. Have a fantastic life." He tugged her into a strong hug and kissed the top of her head and then let her go, walking backwards a few steps. He took a deep breath for courage and then turned on the spot, marching to the mansion. He never looked back.

* * *

End Author's Note: Um, there's a lot of timey-whimey stuff between chapters 13 and 19, I know. If anyone wants a timeline summary, by all means let me know and I'll send one via message. And thanks for the reviews. I love reading them :)


	20. Chapter 20

Hey look, a second update! Yay for chapter 20. Twas a bit slow for me but it had to be done I guess. R&R and enjoy ;)

Chapter 20

* * *

Rose stood numbly by the console as she helped the Doctor direct the TARDIS to their final stop within the Parallel Universe. She was rather surprised at how much stronger she felt inside, even if it hurt to let _him_ go for the final time. She _wasn't_ letting him go, though, not really. That brilliant, fantastic man was still standing there within arm's reach. Time Lord, but still Doctor; her Doctor. The same man.

She swallowed hard and finally met the Doctor's nervous gaze as he locked them into the Time Vortex. "I'm sorry," he said to her, voice low and sincere. "I'm so sorry." He felt the need to apologize for what she'd lost...to apologize for every wrong he'd ever committed on her behalf but Rose refused it with a shake of her head.

"Don't," she countered, letting her hands slip to her side from the lever she'd been gripping. She walked around the unit and reached for his hand, grasping it firmly. "Don't take this away from me. This isn't goodbye. It's hello. A new beginning. A fresh start. There are no apologies here tonight. Just us, starting a brand new adventure, yeah?"

As she spoke, Rose felt her heart lighten at the truth of her own words. A beginning. _Their_ beginning. It brought a ghost of a smile to her lips as she gazed into the astonished face of her Doctor, the alien she loved with all her heart.

"...yeah," was all the Doctor could utter and then he threw his head back with a laugh as he ran a free hand through his hair. When he came back down from his euphoric cloud, he grabbed her up in a hug and spun her around, kissing her soundly like he'd done hours before.

Rose squeaked in surprise and batted his shoulders until he placed her back on solid ground but she was breathless and smiling all the same. "Let's grab Jack and go home, Doctor," she suggested and the Doctor beamed at her, racing to the other side of the console to fly his half of the ship.

"One Captain Jack Harkness coming right up!" He sang, and Rose held on for the ride.

* * *

His landing was perfect and Rose secretly credited most of the effort to her mental guidance on the ship's behalf. She let the Doctor preen anyway and met him at the ramp, hands glued together as they raced to the door. They knew what to expect and met the chaos stewing in the lab with graceful ease.

Lab attendants were racing around the room, Tosh and the Doctor barking orders above the din of charging energy. The Dimension Cannon was alive, humming with the power of Rift activity and the TARDIS was neatly parked within the archway. It seemed as if everyone was oblivious to their arrival, but Rose couldn't blame them with all the sparks shooting from the masses of wiring all over the floor.

"There he is!" the Doctor yelled beside her as they leapt over coils of cable. Jack had just ducked into the lab with Gwen and another young woman on his heels.

A sense of recognition hit the Doctor at the sight of the second woman. He'd met her before, a mini version of pale, creamy skin with a styled mop of curly black hair that framed her delicate face. And her eyes, so piercing. How could he ever forget those fathomless emerald orbs? It was Mae...all grown up.

He didn't have time to gape at the older version of Mae but the Doctor fixed Rose with an accusing glare as they practically tackled Captain Jack. With a passing apology to both women, they each grabbed a wrist of their target and hauled him back toward the TARDIS.

"On the TARDIS, now!" The Doctor commanded above the din.

"But the Rift," Jack barked back, struggling against their hold. "It's unstable and they need our help. This place is going into meltdown!"

"We know, Jack, we're from the future and we need to get back on my ship _now_!" That got his attention enough to ease his struggles but not before Gwen Cooper had a say in the matter.

"Oi!" She'd thrown something - was that her bloody boot?! - and hit the Doctor square in the head, causing him to stumble. Rose gawked in shock for all of one second and then turned to face his assailant, outrage clearly written on her face.

On any other day, she'd have been more in control of her emotions and resulting action. Rose had reached her limit for the next century. Friend or no friend, that bitch was going down. She lunged to take matters into her own hands but strong arms locked around her from behind.

"Let it go, Rose! TARDIS, now." This time it was Jack and he practically carried her with her arms bound to her sides in his circling embrace until she was almost through the open doors.

She pushed free when they were onboard and turned to find the Doctor missing.

"Where's the Doctor?" She called in alarm as Jack made to herd her from the door.

"Helping the other Doctor stabilize the generators before they go into overdrive. Trust him, he knows what he's doing." At least, that's what he hoped. All Jack really had to go on was a long standing trust in the Doctor and a few words of "Get Rose on the TARDIS and I'll sort the rest."

Rose was champing at the bit to argue. The Doctor, her late husband, had specifically told them what to expect and do when they got to this point. The Rift would rip open and all hell would break loose. Everyone had to be back on the TARDIS as quickly as possible and yet, there'd he'd gone, her oh-so-clever Time Lord, frolicking alongside his brother like an idiot. There was no way in _hell_ she'd lose him again.

* * *

He was furious to say the least, but not because of the current bedlam within Torchwood's lab. Oh, no. It was because of the headache he'd gained after Gwen's happy little boot-fest. However, he'd known it was coming and as predicted, Rose reacted beautifully. It was the perfect distraction to slip away. He had one final message to give his brother and he needed both of his companions safely on the TARDIS before he could relay it. They had mere minutes before the Cannon activated and every second counted.

Righting himself from the near-fall, the Doctor snagged Jack's arm and pulled him close so no one else would hear him. "Get Rose on the TARDIS and I'll sort the rest."

Before Jack had time to respond, the Doctor nudged him toward Rose and the Captain had just enough time to reel her in before Gwen got a taste of nine-centuries' worth of bitch-slap. As it was, Gwen got an eyeful of the Oncoming Storm as the Time Lord prowled past her toward his brother who was stuck fighting spark-happy computers.

Whipping out his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor leapt to his copy's aide. The human Doctor gave him a grateful nod, his face set in a grimace as he set his own sonic to match the Time Lord's device. They managed to redirect the energy surge from a single generator to the remaining three units on Torchwood's roof, effectively stabilizing the systems.

"Thanks!" the metacrisis yelled over the roar of his Dimension Cannon as it charged for transportation.

The Doctor gave him a curt nod and then reached out, placing his fingers on his brother's temple.

'I have to make this quick,' the Time Lord said mentally, fixing the human Doctor with a serious stare. 'When it's time to say goodbye, you're going to instruct me on how to help you stabilize the generators we just fixed. Make sure it's a mental conversation...shake my hand or something to keep it private. Proper Time loop and all that. But there's something more I need to share with you before I go.

'The wolf...I heard her voice clearly for the first time. Listen.' The Doctor replayed the memory for the metacrisis, both oblivious to the world around them. When the voice of the wolf echoed between minds, his brother stiffened as he recognized the feminine tone.

'Susan,' the man in blue replied, eyes wide.

'Yes. I thought you should know.' With that, the Time Lord slid his hand to his brother's shoulder and squeezed it in farewell. He had so much more he'd needed to say, but the TARDIS called to him, demanding his return. It was time.

* * *

Rose wasn't sure at what point she'd started swearing in Gallifreyan. Jack had her caged in his arms again after she'd tried to escape the TARDIS and no matter how hard she kicked, he wasn't letting go. He'd have some lovely bruises if it wasn't for the fact that he healed almost immediately after each blow.

"I'm not leaving the Doctor," Rose practically screamed amidst her struggles. She couldn't even reach him between their mental link and it left her in a state of panic. Where the hell was he? She considered her Vortex Jumper but it'd only bring Jack along for the ride.

"Fuck, Jack, let me go!" she barked with another hard kick at his knee.

The Doctor burst through the TARDIS doors seconds later and Jack was all too willing to set Rose free on him. He watched as sweet revenge unfurled, Rose tackling the Time Lord before pulling back and slapping him across the face. Then she kissed him, ignoring the tears sliding down her cheeks.

The TARDIS pitched forwards, taking everyone by surprise. Rose went from kissing the Doctor to falling backwards before deft hands hooked around her waist to yank her close. She felt protective arms pin her to the railing and, together, they gripped the metal rod as the ship rolled sideways with a jolt as she tumbled through the Rift's wormhole.

Sparks flew up from the console and a coral strut caved under the stress of their crash landing right when the TARDIS hit solid ground. The impact threw Rose and the Doctor to the grated floor and it was a long minute before anyone tried to get up. Jack was nowhere to be seen.

Rose was the first to groan, the metal under her arm and shoulder biting into her flesh and she hissed at the sharp pain as she struggled to sit up. Her skin was scraped and raw, fresh blood seeping from the wounds on her right elbow to her hand. Her shoulder felt bruised, as well as her hip, but nothing felt broken.

"You alright, Rose?" the Doctor called as he stumbled to his feet, looking in much better shape thanks to his many layers of clothing.

"Yeah, 'm alright, just scratched myself s'all." Rose took the Doctor's offered hand with her good one and climbed to her feet before searching for the Captain. "Jack?" she called, hearing his moan down the hall.

"I'm alive, thanks." he answered as he trudged back into the room, stepping over coral pieces to reach them. He was ruffled but unharmed; the only evidence of any cuts was the blood smears along his face and arms. He'd already healed.

Before Rose could comment further, the soft whir of a sonic screwdriver distracted her thoughts back to the Doctor who was already worrying over her injuries. The gesture was sweet but not necessary, though she didn't have the heart to argue with him over the fact that her body was already mending the damage. Within twelve hours, the scrapes would have been almost invisible without outside help.

"Thanks," she murmured when he was done and she flexed her arm to shake off the numbness of dermal regeneration. "Wish it were that easy simple to heal the TARDIS though. She's a right mess."

As the Doctor tucked his sonic away, Rose stepped between both men to take in the damaged state of the Timeship, wincing at the sight of the rubble from a collapsed strut. Aside from that, a thin line of smoke plumed from a fried circuit on the console and the lights inside the room had dimmed considerably. The TARDIS was hurting.

"She'll be alright, Rose." The Doctor sighed as he put a comforting hand on Rose's shoulder. He squeezed it and then shuffled over to the console to check the screen. As he predicted, the molecular stabilizers had already begun the self-healing process and all that was needed was for everyone to exit the ship.

"Right," the Doctor sniffed as he spun to face his companions. "If there's anything you need off this ship, gather it up now because we'll need to leave her be for a bit to mend."

Jack glanced questioningly at Rose who shook her head in reply. Neither really had anything on the TARDIS that they didn't already have at Torchwood.

The Doctor shrugged and shooed them down the ramp toward the doors. "Come on, then!"

That's when problem number one made itself known. Upon opening the doors, Jack leapt back with a "whoa!" and his arms thrown back to shield Rose and the Doctor as a pile of debris rained in through the gap. "What the hell?!"

It became obvious very quickly that the TARDIS was half-buried in the remains of what used to be the warehouse which once housed the updated version of the Dimension Cannon. Brick, boards, scrap metal, splintered beams, and bits of glass were all that remained and it took teamwork to clear enough rubble away from the doors before anyone could get safely out of the ship.

The Doctor was the first to brave the mound of wreckage, bracing his hands on the top arch of the TARDIS's frame before heaving himself up with an aided push from Jack and Rose below. There was about four feet of space from the roof for escape and once out, the Doctor turned to haul Rose up after him.

"Oh, this is just fantastic," the Doctor growled after they'd fished Jack out last.

"Self destruct sequence." Jack recalled, a sideways glance at Rose.

"Yup," Rose sighed, staring at the ruins around them mournfully.

"And who's idea was that?" the Doctor demanded, glaring at both of them.

"No idea..." they both replied in unison.

"Brilliant..."

It was going to take at least a day's worth of digging to get the bottom half of the TARDIS free from the ruined warehouse. To make matters worse, they could already hear the drone of sirens in the distance. Their arrival through the Rift had probably rocked half of Cardiff and the place would be swarming with people all too soon.

With a groan, the Doctor dove into his pocket for his sonic and pointed it at his ship. The device hummed and with a whirr of compliance, the TARDIS self-cleared enough of the debris in the doorway to seal her doors shut. She then pulsed and faded from view. Rose realized that he'd put her in stealth-mode to hide her from prying eyes.

Once hidden, the next task at hand was to scarper off from the scene before the authorities showed up. That took the skill of three well-toned time-travellers to manoeuvre over twisted metal and loose brick; a few muffled screams and curses rang out along the way, not that anyone cared.

When the Doctor touched sweet solid ground, he turned to help Rose down and noted her newest set of cuts and bruises. There wasn't any time to heal them though, and with a quick check for Jack, he grabbed her hand and followed the Captain down a few side-roads. They were all panting by the time they'd jogged three streets down from the madness building up around the warehouse.

The streets were empty here, most of the residents having flocked to the source of the disruption and the Doctor was once again thankful for his brilliant Timeship. Even in her state of distress, she'd stretched her force-field far enough to keep them covered and invisible from prying eyes until they were out of harm's way. He expressed his gratitude to the TARDIS and told her to rest, feeling the ship agree with his wishes and she faded from his mind altogether.

It was a startling sensation to lose that constant connection to his ship and the Doctor froze up with a silent gasp. Rose jolted beside him, her hand seeking his as the same sensation hit her and she looked at him in confusion.

"It's alright. She's alright," he tried to assure her, as well as himself. "She's just in healing trance." He went to pull Rose into a hug and then stilled at the sudden revelation. "Wait, you can feel her too?"

Rose met his astonished gaze and smirked up at him. "Of course I can. She's just as ingrained in my mind as you are. She belonged to me first, after all."

The Doctor gaped at her like a fish out of water and then his gob snapped shut as he deliberated her words. "Yes, well. We'll talk about that later," he amended and then blinked, realizing that Jack was missing. Seconds later, a sharp whistle sang to their left.

"Oh, thank God!" Rose breathed, spying the black Torchwood van just as Jack slipped into it with a wave in their direction. She just about yanked the Time Lord off his feet in renewed spirits and they jogged the remaining distance to the van.

* * *

Rose caressed her wrist band with the tips of her fingers, absentmindedly listening to Jack's recount of their Universal adventure. They were safely seated in his office; Don and Sonera neatly tucked in chairs on Jack's right and Jessica and her husband Kyle on the left. Rose and the Doctor were in the back, furthest from Jack and closest to the door.

The office was small, windowless, but decent enough to work in. The lights above were bright, the lamps pivoted to accent the soft-blue walls and it helped to create a relaxed atmosphere to take the edge off such a demanding job. There were a couple of framed pictures of floral designs scattered along the walls, but nothing more aside from a monitor that hung from the ceiling behind Jack.

As for the rest of the Torchwood crew, there really wasn't much room to fit so many bodies at once and the remaining men had stayed behind to monitor the warehouse ruins. So there they sat, debriefing after their wild adventure and Rose could think of a million other places she'd rather be.

She cut her eyes over to Sonera and Don, noting at how close those two seemed to be. It wouldn't have surprised Rose if they were already good friends. Sonera was an easy-going, fun-loving woman at the ripe age of twenty seven and she had that spark of life that just rubbed off on just about anyone around her. She was tall, actually topping Jack by an inch and she wore her scarlet red hair in tiny braids pulled into a loose pony tail before cascading down her back to just below her shoulders.

As if sensing her gaze, Sonera's cheerful chestnut eyes met Rose's and a warm smile spread across her thin lips. The tanned woman looked between Rose and the Doctor and winked at her friend in silent praise. Of course she'd have figured out what the Doctor was to Rose and Rose could only chuckle silently to herself before pretending to pay attention to Jack's lecture.

Was he still talking about the Rift? Blimey, she was ready for this to be over! A quick glance to the right and Rose caught the Doctor eyeing her from his peripheral, the corner of his mouth quirked up in amusement at her restlessness. His hand slid under the table to find hers and he gave it a squeeze to settle her nerves.

It wasn't long before her eyes began wandering again, this time focusing on Don. The Empath seemed a natural fit within Torchwood in such a short amount of time - had it really only been six days since his arrival? He sat back in his stiff chair, leaning slightly toward Sonera but his eyes were riveted on Jack's every move. His appearance had noticeably changed as well, pleasing the eye with a black leather coat over a blue jumper and black trousers, the standard uniform of Torchwood Seven and his blond hair had been cropped close to the scalp. Rose wondered how much influence Jack had had in Don's new haircut...

Then there was Jessica and Kyle, her closest allies aside from Jack. The sudden pang in her heart reminded her how much she'd miss them when she began her travels with the Doctor again, but leaving them would only be a blessing in the end; she'd never have to watch them age and die like so many others.

Rose took in a deep lungful of air and it let it out slowly as she watched the couple in action at the table. Jessica, her slanted eyes flickering between her notepad and Jack, was busy taking notes and hanging on every word their leader said. Her sleek, black tresses swayed freely to her movements, her small frame half-bent over the table as she scribbled down a new sentence.

Kyle was doing much the same, only he held a tablet instead of a notepad and he kept his eyes glued to the screen as he tapped away on the device. Rose bet he was more or less recording Jack's input while comparing it to past Rift activity from before the year 2010. He just had that look on his face, his olive skin wrinkled in a frown that told the world how absorbed he was with his work. There was a cough from up front, drawing Rose's attention back to Jack as he glared at her from across the room. She'd been caught in her musing. Ah, well, he'd live. She stuck her tongue out at him childishly but she didn't miss the amused gleam in his eye as he continued the meeting. A quick glance around the room and Rose realized that everyone was looking at her. Heh.

Jessica and Kyle exchanged glances before Kyle adjusted his thin, black spectacles and turned back to his tablet. Jessica chuckled and settled deeper into her chair, running a hand through her husband's thick black locks affectionately and then she snapped up her pen to get back on task.

Yes...Rose would miss everyone here...hell, she'd even miss the Weevils! However, she was more than ready to resume her travels with the Doctor. She was ready for her beginning and all the new adventures, new planets, and new friends they'd make along the way. She was ready, so ready, to leave her old life behind. So why was she still here?

Rose caught the Doctor's mischievous eye and held out her hand. At some point they'd let go of each other but now she was eager to grab him and go. As he laced his fingers through hers, Rose gently probed his mind with a simple question. He smirked and gave her a wink, agreeing with her request.

"Doctor, Rose?" Jack called, sighing heavily in defeat at their lack of attention in such important matters. "Care to share your secrets with the rest of the class?" He asked in a scolding, yet humorous tone.

Rose beamed innocently and giggled as she turned to face the Doctor. "No, I don't think that we do, Jack. But...if you'll excuse us," she laughed, and then she blew the Captain a kiss.

Jack made to comment on that but the pair winked out of the room before he'd even managed to open his mouth. Damn her and that blasted Vortex Jumper...

* * *

End Author's note: My apologies if I haven't responded to messages directly from fanfiction. I'm hardly on this site other than to post updates and eh, I tend to forget about it quite often. I'll make a better attempt from now on to reply to all reviews personally. And...sorry for the delayed posting. I've had to spend some time fishing for my password because my laptop didn't save it the last time I posted. Not a fan of Windows 8! Ugh! But hey, at least you got two chapters to make up for the delay, eh? Reviews loved and I promise to reply to each one from here and not just whofic ;)


	21. Chapter 21

I'll duck under the covers and hide from the wrath of the readers who've been waiting waaay toooo long for this update. And a thanks to my beta ten_dr_rose as always!

Oh my, the reviews from chapter 20 were absolutely brilliant! I wasn't expecting so many and they made my day(s) over and over. THANK YOU and I hope I was able to respond to them all. If I missed you, by all means poke me. I think I got them all...

And my reason for such a delay? Kittens. I'm fostering a litter of kittens from a shelter and I've been rearing them from about 3 weeks of age. Turns out we're keeping all three of them. Their names are **Tyme, Vortex**, and **The Master**. Thought you'd all appreciate the names ;)

Chapter 21

* * *

They landed in a heap on a mattress, full of giggles and beaming smiles until their lungs demanded oxygen. When Rose was able to breathe again, she rolled off the dark duvet and hunted for the light switch by the large metal door to add more brightness to the otherwise plain, dim room. She'd taken them to her bedroom within Torchwood Seven, the most private of places for her over the last fifty years. Not even Harkness had had the privilege of setting foot in there.

Flipping the switch, Rose leaned against the steel door and observed the Doctor as he gracefully squirmed to the foot of her bed and glanced around the room. She had nothing fancy here other than a few oddball alien trinkets scattered along her lone wooden dresser that sat against the opposite wall to the bed. A tiny white fridge sat beside it on the left with a stack of old papers piled up on top. Her wardrobe was tucked away in the right corner, the stained mahogany wood matching her 5-drawer dresser along with the frame of her floor-length mirror beside her en suite door. There were no posters or pictures on the white washed walls.

Rose tensed when the Doctor's gaze settled on the last piece of furniture in the room. The desk. It was a rickety old thing that'd seen better days, the wood chipped and faded to a pale brown. It sat between the headboard of her bed and corner wall with a fragile looking chair tucked underneath. Its burden, however, was of the greatest value and she sucked in a breath as the Time Lord froze at the sight of it.

"Where did you..." came the unfinished question, hardly a whisper from the Doctor's lips as he leapt to his feet to examine her treasure.

He stopped mere inches away from the sunlamp, his eyes wide as he stared upon the silver-leafed sapling nestled on the table. For several minutes, all he could do was stand there, ogling the tree. He reached out to touch a single leaf, his hand opening and closing several times before he thought better of it and withdrew. Finally, his face turned to her, mixed emotions swimming in his soulful eyes. He couldn't speak.

Rose glued her eyes to the plant and shoved off from the door, making her way around the bed to stand beside him. She ran a finger up the smooth bark of the tree, sighing in silent memory of when she'd started this tiny sapling.

"Before the war," she began quietly as she withdrew her hand but not her eyes. "I found a seed pod from one of the trees one evening on my way back to the TARDIS. It was during your eighth regeneration. Susan identified it as a Silver Pod and helped me seal the seeds away for safe keeping. Something to take with me when...when the time came for me to leave."

Rose sank to the side of her bed and glanced up at the Doctor. He was watching her as she spoke, his expression unreadable so she continued. "One of the seeds, though, resisted and it sprouted a week later. Susan planted it and taught me how to care for the seedling. That was the last day I saw her before...well...you know..." she finished lamely.

The Doctor sank down on the bed beside her and stared back at the tree in silence. Rose felt uncomfortable, waiting for him to say something, anything. She'd always worried that maybe her care over the rare sapling wasn't adequate. Was it healthy? Had she done something wrong with it?

"Did I do something wrong?" she finally asked, echoing her thoughts of concern.

The Doctor blinked as if coming back from another world and looked at her in confusion "What? Did what wrong?" Then his mind sped back to reality and he shook his head, jumping to his feet to touch the delicate tree. "Oh. This? No! No, no, of course not! _This_..." he outlined the whole plant with both hands on either side of it to emphasise his meaning, "well, she's absolutely beautiful! I mean, look at her. She's got to be, what, fifty years old now? And look at how big she is! With artificial lighting and a foreign atmosphere and substitute nutrition...this should be _impossible_.

"Rose," his shimmering eyes locked on hers. "You're brilliant." His voice dropped in awe on his last sentence."Absolutely brilliant."

The tension Rose felt moments ago faded at his praise and she couldn't help but rise up to brush her lips on his cheek. It left the Doctor flustered for a second until he remembered he didn't have to hold back anymore. He moved to chase after her mouth but Rose ducked his assault, twisting away from him until she was in front of her dresser. If she gave into temptations now, they'd never get out of Torchwood and there was still the matter of retrieving the TARDIS from the ruined warehouse - not that they could dig her out of the rubble right then. The place was crawling with people after the building's collapse and would likely stay that way until the following night.

So, in reality, they did have time for a quiet night in. They could spend that time learning about each other, relearning bodies and discovering the unexplored terrain of a blossoming relationship. But...Rose had other intentions. There were things that needed to be said. Answers needed to be given. And their bond, it was still so new and untested, a strange sensation that left Rose with her defensive barriers up as she struggled to adjust to strength of it. She could feel the ever comforting presence of the Doctor's mind within her own and while it soothed that burning ache within her heart, it was unsettling. Her telepathy control was rusty, disused, and vastly uneducated. She was never born Gallifreyan and a large part of her was very much human.

Rose ignored the Doctor's unhappy huff and knelt down at the bottom drawer of her dresser, pulling it open by the worn brass handle. It was full of unused sheets and pillow cases and she shuffled them around until a thin book surfaced from the sea of colourful fabric.

The Doctor sidled up from behind and leaned over her hunched frame as she gingerly caressed the beaten volume. He bent backwards when she scooped it up with both hands and pushed back to her feet, kicking the drawer shut. Turning to the bed, Rose stepped around him and set it on the duvet.

"You wanted to know about Gallifrey and how I got there, yeah?" She tipped her head toward the book and the Doctor realized that it wasn't really a book at all, but a small journal. "S'all in here," she tapped on the thin, bound leather case, "Starts from the second week after I arrived there."

Rose sighed and hugged herself, thinking back to when she'd been given the bigger-on-the-inside notebook. It'd been a gift from Susan, something to help her keep track of the days gone by in her spare time. Her first diary had been lost centuries ago not long after her husband's death. She vaguely recalled clutching the old blue book before the accident. After that, nothing.

Cool arms slid around from behind her in a comforting embrace. They stood together like that for countless minutes, eyes closed with his chin resting on her shoulder. Neither was willing to break the tranquillity between them with words and they let the silence engulf them.

Finally, Rose gently broke from the Doctor's hold and walked to the large wardrobe to assess her packing needs. It was her way of giving the Time Lord time to adjust to what she'd just given him. Her personal history, private feelings, and emotional struggles were now laying mere inches from his fingertips. What he did with that level of intimate trust was entirely in his hands.

* * *

Despite Rose's earlier resolve, a good portion of the next several hours had nothing to do with talking or reading or even packing. She'd been overwhelmed with the Doctor's mental caress, latching onto it like a starved child when he'd turned to her in growing distress at what she'd given him. On the outside he'd seemed cool and collected but just a brush of his mind to hers revealed just how much her gift affected him.

It'd led to hushed whispers and soft touches, reassuring strokes and delicious sighs until clothing was shed in a haphazard line to the bed. Where they'd been rough and desperate before, it was so much more precious and meaningful in the hours that followed. Their bond blazed brightly between them, Rose nervous but willing to come to terms with the blinding sensation. The Doctor was a patient teacher, weaving his crimson web around her like a shielding cocoon as she fumbled with the strands of her own shimmering design.

Now Rose lay curled in her bed, buried deep under the duvet and drifting between consciousness and sleep. She was aware that the Doctor wasn't asleep and most likely wouldn't be for at least a few more days. He stayed with her though, sitting up beside her with his back resting against the headboard as he absentmindedly ran a hand through her hair. Even with her eyes closed, Rose knew that his thick, black-framed specs would be perched precariously on the tip of his nose as he considered her journal held in his free hand. Her last thought before sleep dragged her under was how dead sexy the Time Lord looked wearing glasses and how he ought to keep them on more often.

* * *

The Doctor peered sideways at the sleeping bundle at his side, a smirk tugging the corner of his mouth. He'd caught that mental remark of hers and filed the information away for safe keeping. Not that he really _needed_ glasses to read. It was just...habit? No, not really was more like...a suit of armour; another external layer to hide behind like the rest of his clothing whenever he felt nervous or unsure of himself or the situation he was faced with.

It was a ridiculous act, of course. Childish, even. Logic laughed at his feeble attempts of external barriers but it was a coping mechanism so deeply ingrained within him that he feared it to be a life-long quirk. Rose didn't seem to mind, thankfully, and she was one of the few who could break through those carefully erected walls.

Pulling away from such distracting thoughts, the Doctor eyed the notebook held in his hand. He hesitated to open it, afraid of what he'd uncover in something so personal. In a way, he felt as if he were invading Rose's privacy, even though he'd been given full permission. He also feared the thought of picking at old wounds. Reading about Gallifrey from the eyes of another would surely dig up the memories better left buried.

As if sensing his discomfort, Rose sighed in her sleep and shifted closer to him, her arm slithering across his lap. It was all the encouragement he needed to finally relent and crack open the worn volume.

Being Time Lord, the Doctor could have read her entire journal in seconds simply by flipping through the pages like a picture-book. That idea didn't sit right with him, though. He wanted to take his time and process every letter. The writer deserved his respect and utmost attention, so it was only fitting that he read at a leisurely pace and absorb every detail.

First, he studied her penmanship from day to day, observing and pinpointing her mood at the time of writing depending on the set of her pen. He noted the tiniest ofchanges, like how heavy the ink was in that moment by how hard she pressed into the paper or how the curving of some letters changed based on her emotions. He caught glimpses of concern, excitement, and pain after scanning through a few pages.

Flipping back to the first page, the Doctor settled in to read the worn script. Time passed him by.

_Year One, Week two._

_I've stumbled into a fairytale of sorts. This world should be impossible...that's what he said, once...so long ago. Time-locked after the War...and yet, here I am. On Gallifrey._

_This first entry is more of a recap of events over the last two weeks up until today. My injuries are completely healed now, so that's a plus. I'll also make note that I'm several thousand...million? (probably much more, even) years out of my own Timeline so the dates are lost to me here. So, I'm making a new calendar for myself until further notice._

_I should probably start back from the beginning. The memory gets a little fuzzy but I recall, eh, crashing, into this world from what feels like another Universe. Cracked a few ribs, broke my right shoulder and arm and the right ankle as well. I was covered in bruises, scraped up pretty badly and I remember having the worst migraine I've ever experienced. Concussion really sucks._

_That's the extent of my first two weeks on Gallifrey. Pain, hushed voices, and a lot of fitful sleeping. The first real memory I have after that nightmare is waking alone in a dark cavern-like room. Seemed as if someone had found me and stowed me away in a cave as they tended to my injuries. I waited for my rescuer to return but after several hours of silence, hunger finally drove me from the cot._

_The term 'don't wander off_'_ comes to mind now, thinking back to a few days ago. One of my bad habits that I've never learned from, eh Doctor? I wish you were here with me right now. I need a hand to hold...and your guidance because I feel so helplessly lost on this strange , distractions. Where was I? Ah, off._

_Turns out I was hidden away in a dockyard. That cave turned out to be the basement of a station where TARDISes were either repaired or retired for decommissioning. The place was enormous and I'll admit to getting lost. Probably wandered for a few hours. Instinct told me to stay low and out of sight as I explored my new environment._

_When I couldn't find my way back, I began to panic inside. I had no idea who'd helped me and the dockyard was a grave, creepy place to be in. It felt as if there where ghosts calling out to me, a whisper of a song dancing just beyond my reach. I couldn't hear them, per se, but the tune was sad, almost pleading. Hard to explain it, really. Best I can say is that I sensed their presence, whomever they were._

_Then, I found her. The TARDIS, in all her glory, sitting proudly in a dusty corner of a dark corridor. She was alone, forgotten, even. I didn't recognize her at first, but something about that black pyramid stood out and I had to touch it, caress it like the forbidden jewel that it was. When I placed my hand on the smooth black surface, a narrow door appearedwith a keyhole that looked identical to the one I'd grown so accustomed to on the blue police box._

_Lucky for me, I still had the TARDIS key on its chain around my neck. For whatever reason, my caretaker had stripped me of my clothing, dressed me in rich red robes, but left the key in its rightful place. And wouldn't you know? The key fit._

That was the end of the first entry written in Rose's Journal. The Doctor stared at the last sentence, wondering why it cut off so suddenly. Flipping to the next page, he scanned the paper for more detail but it was just a new entry that left no clues about her abrupt ending. Why stop there?

Sensing his confusion in the back of her mind, Rose stirred from her light sleep and cracked an eye open. It took her muddled brain a minute to catch up to the present, both eyes now open and glued to the journal held firmly in the Doctor's hand.

Stretching, Rose wriggled into a sitting position beside the love of her life, leaning sleepily against his arm as she glanced over the first page of her diary. She reached a hand out to brush the tips of her fingers down the penned letters, reflecting on the memories of centuries past.

"What's the matter?" Rose asked with a yawn as she looked up at the Doctor, meeting his soft gaze. It didn't go unnoticed how his warm eyes softened as she settled more comfortably into his side, her arms snaking around his bare waist in a loose hug.

When he hesitated to answer, Rose pulled back to study his face more clearly. "Well?"

"Um, it's..." the Doctor flailed, not really sure where to start. He still felt unbelievably uncomfortable with the idea of reading her diary. And, perhaps he was a bit distracted by the fact that she was naked. In him. Dear Lord. Distractions.

Rose gave him an impatient quirk of the brow and the Doctor coughed to clear his head with an aggrieved sigh. She had no idea what she was doing to his body right now, looking at him with her hair tangled from sex and her breasts bared to him so innocently.

"Y-you left it hanging in the first entry," he spluttered as she cleared her throat and he tapped the offending page to distract himself from other thoughts. "It jumps right from the TARDIS to, well..." he swallowed, flipping to the next page, "...Susan."

With gentle hands, Rose took her journal from the Time Lord and scanned over the entry before flipping to the second page. Her brow furrowed as she turned back to page one. "Hold on, that's not right..." she murmured in confusion.

Crawling off the bed, she set her journal down long enough to search for her tan dressing gown in the en suit. Covered from the bite of cool air and ravenous eyes, Rose flipped on the overhead light and resumed flicking through the pages, reading the dates written on the top right-hand corner of each one. "There's a page missing. A few of them, actually. How in the world..." Rose ran through the entire book several more times.

"Rose?"

At his questioning voice, Rose glanced up and snapped the volume shut with one hand, gripping it rather tightly. She was peeved that her diary had been tampered with. But how?And by whom?...and _when_?

"Pages are missing," she repeated, "including the second half of my first entry. Someone went to great lengths to cut the pages out perfectly. I didn't even notice the tears at first glance. Did you?"

The Doctor took the offered book and made a show of pushing his "sexy" spectacles up the bridge of his nose before doing his own inspection for torn pages. She was right. Unless you were actually looking for ripped paper, anyone would have skipped right by them. The seams were cut so close to the edge with such perfection. A cut made with intent.

"What else is missing, content wise?" The Doctor asked as he mentally noted the missing pages. Rose didn't write an entry for every day. Maybe weekly, sometimes bi-weekly or longer. But his Time Lord brain skimmed over every page, counting in that lightning-fast speed to piece the evidence together. In chronological order, pages 2, 23, 96, and 530 were gone, though they weren't numbered or marked otherwise.

Rose shook her head as she stared at the duvet in concentration. "Dunno, really. To be honest, I'd have to re-read a good bit of it myself to jog my memory. When you've lived as long as I have... well, you know. Things fade. They're never truly forgotten, just get a bit fuzzy. S' why I kept a journal. I've always done, travelling with you. Our separation was no different."

The Doctor gave a stiff nod as he set the book down and climbed from the bed. Rose busied herself as he dressed, keeping her eyes trained on the ground as the scattering of her clothes from earlier suddenly became an interest. It was always good to keep ones room clean, right? It was way more important than, say, a hair-tousled Time Lord parading around the small space in his pants.

When he made a show of wriggling into his trousers, Rose simply had to stop and stare at his bum a moment.

"See something you like?" The Doctor teased, pausing in the act of buttoning his trousers with a knowing smirk.

Rose rewarded him by sticking her tongue out at him childishly and giggling. "Shut up, you."

That remark ended in a squeal, all previous worries about missing pages lost as the Time Lord chased her around the room, catching her around the waist to toss her onto the bed. The ensuing tickle war that followed would never be forgotten.

* * *

"There's another way..." the Doctor hedged nervously, hours later. Again they were snuggled in bed, buried under the sheets with limbs tangled up and an obvious lack of clothing.

"Hmm?" Rose murmured against his chest, a finger caressing his bare chest as she tried to sort through his projected emotions. She was becoming so much more aware of him, sensing his feelings through their bond as if it were a natural, everyday occurrence. He did his best to conceal them, she knew, but even his strongest of barriers were weakening in her capable hands.

The Doctor had become quiet and brooding for a while now. Rose knew something was on his mind but she didn't push him to talk about it, instead opting to give him time to mull it over until he was ready to speak. As he struggled within himself, she realized that he was preparing to come clean about something. How else could she describe the wave of guilt flowing from him to settle in the pit of her stomach?

Still, she waited, patient and silent in his arms as he opened his mouth again. "Your journal," he breathed into her hair, "there's another way to dip into those memories."

Puzzled, Rose lifted herself from his chest and propped her head up on an elbow to face him. Her look asked him to continue so he took a deep breath and plunged ahead.

"I have this...machine. Back on the TARDIS. It's called a Dimensional Dream Converter for all intents and purposes. It...records...eh, stuff." His voice was small and an octave higher than normal. What was he not telling her that had him so edgy all of a sudden?

"Stuff...like what, dreams?" Rose tossed out, baiting him on as gently as possible.

"Sort of, , nightmares..._memories_."

Oh, yes. Right there. His eyes had shifted to the sheets on the word 'memories.' She now had a clue to work with. "When you say 'memories,'" she prodded, eyeing him suspiciously. Rose had no idea what he was guilty of, but her guard was well up and alert. Not that she had anything to hide from him anymore. But whatever he'd done, her instincts told her a major rule had been broken at some point, possibly even her trust.

The Doctor sucked in a long breath, letting it out slowly as his eyes trailed back to hers in silent apology. "Back when your mind was burning...when I had to get inside your head to save you, I...may have...recordedyourmemories."

The last three words came out so fast and low that Rose almost missed them. When it processed, though, she sat up stiffly, unconsciously drawing the sheets up to cover herself. She regarded him with a glare that he failed to see because he couldn't find the courage to look her in the eyes.

The minutes ticked by, Rose trying to form words to the strangled feelings that skittered through her mind. She wasn't surprised by his actions. On the contrary, it was very Doctor-ish for him to have acted on impulse without asking her opinion on the matter. However, she'd spent far too many years trusting him, and he'd trampled over it time and time again by making decisions for her. Satellite Five, the battle at Canary Wharf, Bad Wolf Bay after she'd fought so hard to find him again - the list could go on and on - they were all choices he'd made _for_ her. And invading her private memories? Well, it was a necessary sacrifice she'd accepted to save herself all those weeks ago. But to record them without her permission, let alone her knowledge? He'd crossed the line.

"Doctor," she spoke at last, her voice level, yet sharp. Rose didn't continue until his eyes travelled back to hers and she pinned them there with a dangerous glare that assured his undivided attention.

"Let me be very, very clear with this: I'm perfectly capable of running my own life and making my own choices. My memories belong to me. You've no right and no business mucking about in it without my permission. I let you in because I had to, because I trusted you to treat my memories with respect and care. Yet you deliberately took it upon yourself to take without asking, without any consideration as to how I'd feel about it."

The Doctor fought the urge to break from her piercing stare, wanting to shrink into the mattress to hide himself from her quiet fury. He knew this day had been coming...but to finally bear witness to her wrath was...shameful. He felt shame and guilt for breaking her trust and a sickening thought crossed his mind; would she leave him?

"Rose..." He struggled to sit up and ran a nervous hand through his hair, the bedsheets pooling around his waist as his mind raced for words of sincere apology. He had a funny feeling that no amount of grovelling would be enough save him and he didn't even know where to start.

Suddenly, he remembered the elusive wolf hidden away in her subconscious mind and pounced on it in desperation.

"Rose, please listen, I can explain... No, wait, please just hear me out," he stalled her building protest with a hand on her shoulder and just like that, the words came to him like a gift. He adjusted himself so that he sat cross-legged facing her and after a tense moment of staring, Rose relaxed slightly under his touch.

"You're right. Yes, I'm stupid and inconsiderate and controlling. I'm the mastermind of manipulation and deception when I feel cornered or when I feel that someone I care about...someone I love," he practically choked on the word, "...is in danger. You're no exception and it's a habit I've never outgrown. I'm the last of my kind...and I've been alone for far too many years. Having a relationship with a companion like this...with an equal...it's not something I'm used to."

Rose searched his eyes as he spoke, her hands folded neatly in her lap as her fingers toyed with the duvet at her waist. She was vaguely aware that her bottom lip was caught between her teeth.

"I'm not going to lie and say this will be easy for me, Rose," the Doctor continued with shake of his head and his gaze moved to her mouth as she chewed on her lip. With a small frown, he reached out and cupped her cheek, running his thumb along the edge of her mouth until she surrendered his target for inspection. Satisfied that she hadn't done any serious damage, he met her wide, molten eyes again.

"I'm going to muck things up and do things before asking, or thinking, or both. What I did in the medical bay when you were helpless, it wasn't right and I take full responsibility for my actions. I've felt guilty for doing it and it's been hell trying to find a way to tell you because I knew you'd be upset. But you've a right to know and I'm sorry, so sorry for betraying your trust...again."

He paused, waiting for Rose to respond to his open confession. The words were true and from the heart, even if they'd literally come from out of nowhere. He wasn't finished, though. Far from it. There was still the matter of the wolf prowling around in her mind, something he desperately needed to show her.

Rose contemplated his apology, weighing the sincerity shining in his eyes until she had to break free and stare at the duvet. For a while, she didn't say anything at all. Then, randomly, she laughed. It threw him off, her small fit of giggles and then she turned to him, her arms locking around his neck to drag him to her lips. After a heated kiss, she let him go.

"We're gonna be all awkward and uncoordinated, yeah?" she sighed, a grin on her face.

Shaking the haze from his addled brain, the Doctor stared at her cautiously. Wasn't she still mad at him? Did he miss something? "Wha-? But I.. Weren't you just-?"

Rose cocked her head at him, observing his confusion with mild amusement. "'M not mad, Doctor. I was upset, yeah. I had to set a boundary and make sure you understood it as such. And you apologised. You're right, it's gonna take time and we're gonna make all kinds of crazy arse mistakes. 'S what couples do. We'll screw up, row a bit, learn from it, and move on. I'll still go on lovin' you just the same."

This time it was the Doctor who sought her lips and she let him snog her into mindless bliss. She only broke free when her lungs demanded oxygen. When they both managed to pace their breathing to something close to normal, Rose remembered their original conversation.

"So, about this Dream Converter thing..."

The Doctor's grin faltered and became serious at her reminder. "Ah, yes. Actually, there's something more important I need you to see regarding that." He closed his eyes and mentally sought the TARDIS, checking to see if she was ready for passengers. She was.

Opening his eyes, he glanced at Rose and tipped her head toward her dresser. "Get dressed, we're going back to the TARDIS."

* * *

End Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed and thanks for sticking with this. Love hearing from my readers and I'll be sure to respond to each one! Chapter 22 on the way.

*that niggling feeling in the back of your head that says you're forgetting to say something important*


	22. Chapter 22

I want to stop and congratulate all the readers who've put up with this crazy story thus far. I know its complicated and twisted, but this story IS my first and basically a guinea pig as I learn the ropes in this strange new community.

So, a big THANK YOU to everyone who's stayed on it and an even bigger I LOVE YOU to all my reviewers ;) I'll respond to reviews accordingly. I'm a bit behind in the posting of this chapter as it was up on whofic last week. So that also means my reviews here have yet to been tended to - working on that as soon as I get this up. I'd have had it up sooner, but I had to rush a cat to a vet on thursday and I've been up 'round the clock tending to her needs, as well as my foster kittens, AND on top of that, another litter of feral kittens ended up on my doorstep later that same night. -sigh-

Chapter 22

* * *

Rose walked around the Dimensional Dream Converter nervously, watching the Doctor set it up. They'd made the jump into the TARDIS with her wrist band and while the ship was in a much healthier state, she was still in the healing process and wasn't fit for travel just yet. The Doctor planned to dig her out of the rubble once he'd rigged the machine for Rose.

He thought it best to give her privacy. It would take hours for Rose to watch through the recording and he'd memorized it after watching it himself in bits and pieces during his minimal spare time. Besides, Rose might not be as focused on the screen with the Doctor breathing down her neck.

Plugging in one more wire, the Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver over the heart of the Converter and gave a decisive nod.

"All finished. Now then, the playback works like any old DVD player. Red button - stop, green button - play. Yellow is the pause, and the arrows direct fast-forward and rewind. Easy peasy." He tapped the controls on the front of his machine and then leaned in to place a chaste kiss on Rose's forehead before slipping from the library.

Rose stared at the screen a moment, hesitant to press play and then she quickly smashed the green button and slunk off to the overstuffed couch by the fire. She was at least grateful that the Doctor had chosen to move the hefty machine here from the med bay. Not only had he made sure that she'd be comfortable, but he'd also provided a larger screen that hung from the ceiling. It faced the couch, angled so that the glare of the fireplace wouldn't affect the view.

And so she sat. And she watched. And the memories came flooding back... The wolf howled.

* * *

Rose placed a soft hand against the cool metal wall of her bedroom, seeking the TARDIS's affirmative to her silent question. The Doctor and Susan were both sleeping, along with their current companions, Barbara and Ian. She'd waited weeks to catch everyone sleeping at the same time and now was as good as any to act.

It was difficult, sometimes, having to seclude herself within the bowels of the Timeship. The Doctor was still in his first body and Rose knew she had to stay hidden to keep the Timelines intact. This was as close as she'd ever get to be with him until her own Timeline corrected itself, but the older version of Susan hadn't told her when that would be. But she couldn't complain about her situation so much. She still had the TARDIS and Susan was a very good friend and teacher, no matter what regeneration she happened to be in.

With an offhanded shrug at her thoughts, Rose slipped from her room and took to the corridors at a leisurely jog. She wasn't exactly running for her life these days and the exercise would help burn off some of her built up frustration. By the time she made it into the console room, Rose was panting but feeling remarkably better.

"Now then, dearest," she purred between breaths, caressing the smaller control panel affectionately."Where should we go tonight? The Doctor's gonna be out for a few hours at least in that worn out old body so I'd say we've about five hours of play time."

The ship hummed in reply and a set of coordinates lit up on the monitor.

"Gallifrey, eh? Why go back there so soon? Is our Susan calling for us again?" She was referring to the older version of her friend. It got a bit confusing sometimes, shifting between the current girl and the woman she would one day become, but Rose seemed to handle the wibbly-wobbly-ness of it all pretty well. They were both dear friends and both protected her secrets and kept her company whenever possible.

It only took her a second to dash around the console and lock onto the established coordinates for flight. She'd been doing this for the past 20-something years and it was always a thrill to pilot the Timeship. No wonder the Doctor grinned like a maniac in his later years.

The TARDIS materialized with ease in a section of forest that Rose couldn't place. She hadn't done too much exploring of Gallifrey itself, but then again, it wasn't exactly safe. If anyone found her here...well, she wouldn't think about that.

After a quick scan of her surroundings from inside, Rose braved the unknown world of Gallifrey. She slid from the cracked door and clutched the perception filter key that hung around her neck through the thin fabric of her pink jumper. The key had been older-version Susan's idea after learning all about her grandfather's life and the things he'd done. Rose's late husband, the human Doctor, had once told her all about the adventures he'd had during their separation after Canary Wharf. He'd even told her about Martha and the year that never was and thus the perception filter sprang into rebirth thanks to Susan's brilliant mind.

Rose never took the key off her neck for anything. It helped keep her hidden inside the ship when crossing paths with someone by accident and it made her practically invisible to Gallifreyans when she ventured onto Gallifrey itself. Still, she always kept her guard up and made sure to tread carefully here.

The breeze was warm and welcoming as she absorbed the natural beauty around her. The grass here was a mixture of reds, oranges and greens and bright rays of sunlight filtered in through the variation of trees. Rich bird song resonated in the air and insects buzzed about out of sight. The joy of finding something so breath-taking brought a beaming smile to Rose's face and she cheerfully made her through the foliage. It was rare moments like this that made it all worthwhile. The only thought to tarnish her happiness was the fact that she was alone in this.

It was while she silently pined for the Doctor's company that she heard an unexpected sound; sniffling. Rose froze, her heart leaping into her throat as she tried to identify the owner of mournful voice. From the tone and pitch, she guessed that it was a boy, a child.

It took her a second to locate the child in question. When she found him crouched behind the trunk of a massive Ashid tree, she paused to observe him as he scrubbed furiously at his eyes and whimpered some more, clutching his head between his hands in what appeared to be pain...or frustration.

"They won't stop. It just doesn't stop!" he cried, his small hands balling into fists in his dark brown hair.

Rose glanced around her, double and triple checking the forest for any signs of life other than the boy and natural fauna. She shouldn't do what she was about to do. Susan had warned her to never interact with other Gallifreyans. But he was only a child and it was obvious that he was suffering in some sort of deranged way.

She watched his bright blue eyes spring open, wide and glassy as he talked furiously to himself. His mop of hair was tangled and hung loosely around his face; the fringe rounded and cut just an inch above his eyes before curving down to cover up his ears in a bowl-like trim to the back of his neck. He wore flowing robes of navy blue but the fabric was torn from an obvious fall and bits of bracken clung to it.

The only thing Rose could do was pity the boy and she leaned up against the rough bark to speak to him.

"Hey, there," she murmured softly, startling the child from his fit of tears.

As expected, he could suddenly see here there, towering above him and he stumbled backwards in confusion. To him, he'd been alone and then she'd popped in beside him from thin air. Unless she drew attention to herself or someone was actually looking for something out of the ordinary, the perception filter kept her safely cloaked.

Recovering from his shock, the boy sat up and stared at her from the ground. "Who are you?" he asked simply, sniffling in child-like fashion.

"I'm no one," Rose offered lamely, suddenly realizing that she wasn't exactly prepared to answer any questions. "Bit of ghost, really. An...imaginary friend, you could say."

The boy blinked at her, clearly confused but he didn't seem frightened of her. In fact, his curiosity spiked and he climbed to his feet to step closer to her.

"There's no such thing as an imaginary friend," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Indeed," Rose replied, remembering just how smart a Gallifreyan child was at this age. He looked to be about 8 years old and in that case, he was probably already enrolled in the Academy. What he was doing in the middle of some random forest was beyond her.

"Mind tellin' me what's got you so upset?" she ventured on, keen to keep him answering her questions instead of asking his own.

The boy's eyes cut to the ground in defeat. "The drumming. Ever since initiation, it never stops," he patted a beat of 'one-two-three-four' on his leg to demonstrate. "A never-ending rhythm in my head. It hurts."

His simple answer was enough to jog her memory from her husband's stories about his childhood and past. This was the Master, long before he'd been driven mad. What the Doctor had never known, though, was the ultimate cause of his madness. She bet he'd never even believed that 'the drumming' was real. But Rose knew better. She'd burned with that knowledge the day she'd lost the baby and given enough mind-jogging, it was easy to dig it up. The Time Lords had done this to him.

It chilled her to the core, realizing that made the beginning steps to change the Doctor's Timeline and yet still, the Master was affected by this torment. Wouldn't this have changed? Or was this a fixed point for him, to forever be haunted by the thrumming of a Time Lord's heart deep within his mind?

Then there was a flare of anger that anyone would dare do this to a child at all. Gallifreyan or not, he suffered. It was wrong, sickeningly so. Call it old maternal instincts, but Rose suddenly felt protective of him and her instincts screamed at her to comfort him.

"What's your name, kid?" she asked, her voice softening as she crouched down beside the tree to get down on his level, drawing his eyes back to hers.

"Koschei," he said. He'd expected to be judged, Rose could tell. Perhaps he'd been bullied because of his mental-ailment and that was the reason he'd fled to into seclusion here in these woods.

"That's a lovely name, Koschei." Rose smiled warmly and offered him her hand as she continued, "You can call me..."

"My imaginary friend?" he finished when she stumbled on a suitable name. She didn't want to lie to the boy but telling him her real name wasn't the safest of ideas.

"Yeah, your imaginary friend," she grinned, and Koschei reflected her amusement with a small smile of his own.

He decided to be brave and stepped forward to take her hand. Rose was gentle and manoeuvred him into her arms, much like a mother would cuddle an insecure child. It was such a foreign sensation to her and yet she found herself hugging him close as she settled on the ground with her back against the tree.

"I'm so sorry, Koschei," she whispered into his hair and he buried into her embrace as if to hide from the demons in his head. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that but it must have been hours because the light began to dim somewhat.

When distant shouting could be heard, the spell was broken. Koschei struggled free from her arms and she reluctantly let him go.

"I have to go," he said, backing away from her but he seemed loath to leave as well. His eyes stayed glued to hers.

Rose nodded and stayed seated. Best to let him go before slipping away into the unknown. She'd have to scout her way back to the TARDIS and hope it was still there. Otherwise, Susan would be a terror to deal with when the Time Lady tracked her down.

"Good-bye," she said simply when he still hesitated a few feet away.

"Will I see you again?" he had to ask, take a few more steps backwards at the insistent calls echoing throughout the woods.

"Dunno, maybe. If the Universe deems it so... Now off with you, before you make your friends any more upset." She kept her voice light and gentle, sending him off with a wink. "And remember...this is just between us!"

Just as Koschei dashed off out of sight, the world around Rose shifted, melding into something else entirely. She startled, jumping to her feet because this was not how the memory was supposed to end. That train of thought caused even more confusion because...when had she fallen asleep in the first place? It'd felt so real...and then suddenly it was gone!

Rose spun in a circle, taking in the white-washed walls of her surrounds. She was in a hallway and there were no doors as far as her eyes could see in either direction. The flooring was concrete and even though there were no visible overhead lights, it was very bright.

"Grand. I'm in a hall of memories with no doors," she muttered to herself. Was this the Doctor's doing, possibly? Maybe he'd found her unconscious and couldn't resist hooking her to that Converter thing. It didn't feel right though. No...this had to do with herself, an internal conflict or a hidden message, or...something.

"You're close," an unfamiliar voice growled.

Rose gasped and jerked toward the intruder, finding herself face-to-face with a large golden wolf. She recognized it immediately, and not just from the recorded video feed from the Doctor's machine. Seeing it in person, all of her memories came crashing back and a feeling of dread crawled up her spine.

"Rassilon," she hissed, stumbling backwards. "How the hell are you still alive?"

The wolf chuckled, sitting down with a wolf-grin and it cocked its head to one side.

"What's the matter, Rose Tyler? Not so thrilled to see me, are you?"

"Susan locked you away! S-she destroyed your spy and-"

"And yet, here I am." The wolf laughed, a deep, horrid sound. "Run my precious Tyler, we're on the hunt to find you."

Rose woke up screaming.

* * *

Never in all his life had the Doctor run so fast to her was in a panic and properly spooked and he was helpless to soothe her without breaking their discussed boundaries. He briefly considered it under the strain of what's he'd just seen outside his TARDIS.

"It's happening. It's still gonna happen!" Rose chanted to herself in a fit, shoving away from the Doctor to pace in front of the fire place. She brought her thumb to her lips and chewed nervously on her nail, oblivious to the Doctor's presence by the couch.

"What, Rose? What's happening? I don't understand."

Her fearful gaze snapped to his and Rose froze. "The Time Lords," she whispered, "...they're coming back."

* * *

"Leaving us so soon?"

Jack's voice echoed from below and the Doctor took a grateful break, setting his shovel up against the TARDIS door to stand up straight and stretch out his back. He was getting way too old for rough labour - not!

"Nah, just diggin' her out to make the stress of moving her easier," he called down as Jack began to navigate up the rubble in the dark.

When the Captain made it to the TARDIS, even the Doctor could tell he'd been worried about that key fact. His hair was a dishevelled mess - sex hair, he snickered to himself - and he lacked the trade-mark WWII overcoat, instead, sporting a hastily donned button-down shirt and wrinkled trousers. One of his team members must have caught the Doctor's activities on the CCTV.

"Need a hand?" Jack offered and the Doctor grinned, handing him the shovel.

"Be my guest."

The two of them chattered on about everything and nothing and it helped to pass the time as they rotated between shovelling and hauling around debris until the TARDIS was relatively loose from her grave.

"It's going to be so strange when she's gone," Jack was saying as he spiked the shovel into the rubble and leaned against the stick for support to observe their work. "She's been a constant at Torchwood for the past fifty years. I've been rather spoiled."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed slightly at the word 'spoiled' and he casually leaned up against his ship, folding his arms across his chest. "Yes...about that. I loved that particular term you coined back in med bay when we got off that dying planet. What was it? Ah yes; she's like a 'sister' to you. Except siblings don't _fuck_ each other. Mind clearing that up a bit?"

"Aaaaumm..." Jack coughed and lost his balance against the shovel as it shifted loose under too much pressure. He recovered quickly, standing up tall to give himself the confidence he wasn't really feeling at the moment. If there was one thing he feared that wasn't a pissed off Rose Tyler, it was the Doctor's wrath.

"She started it!" the captain said in his defence, and for his benefit, he was being honest in that regard. "And it wasn't exactly like you were around to care for her." It was a low blow, he knew, but vital to keep the playing fields even.

The Doctor took his words with effort, swallowing them with distaste and he fixed his glare on the bricks at his feet.

"But for the record," Jack added, feeling horrible for his words, "I should have been honest with you from the beginning, and I'm sorry about that. Rose didn't want you to know, at least, not in the beginning. She didn't think you were ready. And there was nothing...passionate...between us. She was a friend and had needs. Most of the time we wouldn't touch each other for months at a time...even went a couple years without-"

"Enough, Jack. I get it. I don't need the whole story." The Doctor scrubbed his hands over his face and ran them through his hair before finally meeting Jack's face with an annoyed expression. "Just so long as you understand that she's unavailable for the entirety of the rest of her existence. Paws off. Are we clear?"

Jack beamed at him, glad to get that part of the conversation over with while remaining in one piece. "Crystal!"

Just as he scooped up the shovel to follow the Doctor into the TARDIS, something caught his eye and Jack froze at the sight of it. "Doctor!"

The Doctor turned from inserting his key into the door and followed Jack's line of vision, squinting in the darkness. His stomach dropped. Standing at the base of the mountain of rubble stood an Ood. And not just any Ood; Ood Sigma.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Jack questioned, eyes glued to the Ood. He heard the Doctor audibly swallow beside him.

"Yeah." His instincts were clawing at him to run as fast and far away as he possibly could but his feet were frozen, unable to process what his mind was screaming in vain.

And then just like that, it vanished.

"What the hell was that? Doc?"

"That was Ood Sigma...and I need to find Rose. Now."

The Doctor spun on his heels and fumbled with the lock, his hands shaking so hard as the whisper of a wolf echoed back its warning; _Your song was ending, but the beats have changed. The march of drums will call them home and the wolf will rise against them. _

Pausing at the door, the Time Lord locked eyes with Jack. "Whatever this is about, Jack, keep Torchwood out of it. This has something to do with my Timeline. It's a fixed point in time that is _meant_ to happen and even Rose's meddling can't change the facts."

Before Jack could reply, he shoved through the door and shut it firmly. His words were nothing but lies, of course. The Doctor didn't have a clue about how things would turn out and his Time Sense was in a fog; a storm brewing on the horizon. His mind raced with the possibilities, hundreds of Timelines twisting and writhing just out of sight. At any rate, he felt the threat adequate enough to keep Jack out of it.

Throwing the TARDIS into her first flight after her recovery, he eased her into the Time Vortex and set it onto autopilot. It was when he'd made it past the first set of guest bedrooms that he'd heard Rose scream.

"Rose!"

* * *

End Author's Note: Thanks to my beta for all her work! And love the reviews!


	23. Chapter 23

Sorry for such a long delayed update. We have two unrelated pet deaths within 7 days of each other and I'm still nursing another kit back to health. These are not the three little boys we recently adopted, but we lost a 2-year old cat to heart conditions as well as a foster feral kit to unknown causes. Between them and my work schedule, I'm behind. Sleep? ...I no longer know the meaning behind that word.

Oh, for anyone interested, I have a couple videos up on youtube of my cat/kitten herd. Forgive the quality, they were shot with an iPod... My username there is **kishasara1** and should pulled up results. If not, let me know. **Salem & Tardis** is also one of the titles for the video and may also pull up in the search results that way...

Beta work is done by the lovely ten_dr_rose. Also, any parts you recognize as from End of Time Part One does not belong to me, even if I changed it up a bit.

Chapter 23

* * *

At some point in the middle of their heated argument, Rose had slipped from the library to escape. She needed time to catch her breath and think with a clear head. The Doctor hadn't followed her, but it wouldn't be long before he came to his senses to hunt her down for yet more answers she didn't have.

Sure, once upon a time, Rose had burned with the knowledge of the Doctor's Timeline. She'd witnessed his confrontation with the Master as well as the Time Lords' last ditch attempt to break free from the Time-lock. And if she dug hard enough, she could even remember the agony of watching her Doctor absorb all that radiation poisoning to save Wilfred Mott's life when it was all said and done with.

Still, the Doctor knew better than to peek at his possible future. A part of her understood his reasoning, though. He knew that she was involved, had admitted as much to her just moments before, and he wanted nothing more than to keep her safe. That was the Doctor in every way and she loved him all the more for his efforts. And that was exactly why she needed to get away; to plan.

Rose planted the image of her Torchwood bedroom firmly in mind and made the jump from the TARDIS corridor. She stumbled a bit, not paying attention to the force of her exit and managed to catch herself at the edge of her bed. The room was eerily quiet and foreign after having spent so many carefree hours in here with the Doctor. It smelled of him, of _them_, and it made her ache to be in his arms again.

Running her fingers through her hair to clear her head, Rose tried to focus on the most important task at hand. _He_ was coming for her, of that she was certain. Why Rassilon wanted her in particular was unknown, but then again, wasn't he really after the Doctor? It was possible that she was the bait to lure the Doctor in. Or maybe this was a simple act of revenge. Use the Master to break the Timelock and then hit the Doctor where it'd hurt the most before the Universe's destruction.

They were all guesses, nonetheless; it was all she had to work with. First, though, she had to find the Master. He was the missing key and he alone would be used to break the seal to free Gallifrey. The madman was probably already resurrected from the dead, wreaking havoc on humankind and it would only be a matter of time before the Doctor caught onto his weak mental signature.

As Rose made up her mind, she pushed away from the bed. Her hand brushed up against something cool and solid, drawing her attention to her journal that sat on the Doctor's half of the bed. She picked it up and remembered the carefully cut pages.

It was odd to have only found them now. Over the years, Rose had occasionally taken the time to read over her old entries and there had never been any missing pages. It'd been a little over a century, perhaps, since her last reading, but nobody else had ever touched it. She'd kept it hidden. Unless...

Rose went over to her dresser and pulled at the top drawer, rummaging around until she found a pen and pad of paper before heading to her desk. Being extra careful, she eased into the wooden chair, setting the pad and pen to one side as she cracked open her diary to skim through the pages. She read each entry before and after every missing page. Nothing seemed to be significant there. A couple pages were parts of other entries and after reading each one, she was able to recall the missing information.

Then she went by dates. Perhaps the numbers spelled something? But no, Rose could trace no points of interest in the dates themselves. Okay...so then, pages? It took her several minutes to count and mark each missing page. She even took the precaution and recounted them to make sure she'd done it right. When she finished, she read back over her notes. Pages 2, 23, 96, and 530 were missing. Again, nothing important stuck out to her.

She let out an aggrieved sigh, giving up. She didn't have time for this and it was probably something unimportant. Slamming the book closed, Rose tucked her journal under her arm and tore the page she'd written on from the pad, cramming it into her jeans pocket. Then she fled to her wardrobe, grabbing a couple of large packs from the bottom shelf. It took her all of five minutes to stuff her valuables into them; the rest was more or less junk that she could replace on the TARDIS.

Swinging the light load over one shoulder, Rose made her way back to the desk and gingerly collected her potted plant with both hands. Then, without so much as a second glance, she vanished from the room a final time.

* * *

The Doctor was a bundle of frustrated nerves as he made his way to the console room. It'd been a pointless search for Rose and he'd given up an hour ago, assuming she didn't want to be found just yet. There was the possibility that she wasn't even on the ship, but if that were the case, he seriously doubted that his TARDIS would willingly let him pilot the ship into the Vortex. A random thought of agreement niggled in the back of his mind, confirming his suspicions. Bloody ship. Wasn't this supposed to be _his_ TARDIS, anyway?

An undignified yelp leapt from his throat, followed by growl as he popped his wounded finger into his mouth to soothe the burn from the console. It wasn't often she rebuked his thoughts, but suddenly the ship was quite touchy. If he handled the controls a little roughly after that, the TARDIS proceeded to ignore it.

Without really thinking about it, the Doctor set the coordinates to Earth, picking a random year in the early 1600's. He didn't even select a location, letting his ship decide for herself where they'd land next. They needed a distraction. Or rather, he needed a distraction. Either way, what better way to avoid the impending doom than to rush into another adventure? Just like old times...except, there was no Rose Tyler bouncing happily at his side.

It was when the TARDIS landed and he made to shove off his ship to get a bit of fresh air that a shiver crawled up his spine. The Doctor paused at the door, his senses screaming at him to run the other way. He didn't have to look to know they weren't anywhere near the 1600's. They weren't even on Earth. Swallowing, he pushed the door open and stepped out into a world of white. Definitely not Earth...and Ood Sigma was waiting for him.

"So much for distractions..." The Doctor muttered under his breath as he tipped his head toward the Ood dressed in a blue suit. In a much louder voice, he called out, "Hold on a tick," and he ducked back into the TARDIS to scoop up his heavy brown overcoat from the railing.

He left the safety of his ship seconds later, his steps slow and forced as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat against the flurry of snow. When they were face-to-face, he rocked on the balls of his feet and met the Ood's emotionless gaze in trepidation.

"Now then, where were we? I was summoned, wasn't I? That was you back in Cardiff, calling me. Actually, now that I think about it," the Doctor tapped into his Timesense and glanced around the landscape, taking in the towering spires and snow-covered structures that were well advanced for Ood species. "A century has passed on this planet since my last visit. Something's accelerating your species way beyond normal."

"And the mind of the Ood is troubled." Ood Sigma said calmly, blinking. "Every night we have bad dreams. You should not have delayed, Doctor."

The Doctor studied the squid-like face of his 'friend' and considered his words carefully. "Last time I was here, you said my song would be ending soon. Now it seems the tables have turned to someone I love and I'm in no hurry for that. Tell me more about these bad dreams."

Ood Sigma merely bowed his head. "You will come with me," he replied in that same dull voice.

* * *

Rose zipped her blue leather jacket half-way and raked the rest of her scattered clothing into a pile at the edge of her bed. Her old room within the TARDIS had been recently updated with warm tan walls and plush, green carpet but she'd unpack and sort the rest of her belongings later. Right now she had a job to do.

She dug around in her smaller, second black pack until her fingers brushed against the cool metal of something forbidden. With a grimace, her hand closed around the butt of her pistol and she reluctantly pulled it from the bag. It was small, packing 9mm bullets and she'd never personally fired the gun since possessing it. But now...just in case. She loaded it quickly and tucked it in her jacket, safety off.

Grabbing her mobile and whatever else she'd taken out of her jeans pockets when changing into her new leather outfit, Rose re-stuffed it all into her black trousers and left the room. She had little idea of what she could possibly do to stop the events ahead, but if there was one thing she could do, it was to keep the Doctor safe. And that started with one Wilfred Mott. He needed to vanish, quickly.

It took Rose all of three minutes to realize the short trek back to the console room wasn't so short anymore. In fact, the halls were completely rearranged to the point that she didn't know where the hell she was going. The TARDIS was interfering.

She stopped in the corridor, resting one hand against the warm coral wall on her right and inquired about her current predicament. The answer she received from the TARDIS was both puzzling and silent; while there was no echoing hum in the back of her mind, the elegant doors to the recently discovered alien-made forest materialized under her hand, the handle of which pressed firmly into her open palm. It was as clear a message as any: Enter.

Rose had to muscle her way through the heavy door. The moment it fell shut behind her, though, it melted into the walls, effectively locking her in. She fumed at the audacity of the TARDIS for mucking about at a time like this -she had a Time Lord to save!- but cooled when rational thought stepped in. The sentient ship would want the Doctor safe as much as Rose so there had to be a really good reason for her to bring her here.

"Alright, girl. I trust you," she sighed, swallowing her anger and anxiety to face the enchanting woods.

The artificial suns had set, or maybe it was still night here from before. The Doctor had said that Time flowed differently in this room compared to the rest of the TARDIS so it was possible. Again, Rose wondered if the place had insects because everything was eerily quiet aside from random chirps here and there in the canopy. She waited a minute, letting her eyes fully adjust in the false moonlight before daring to venture into the clustered trees.

As to where she was going, or supposed to go, Rose hadn't the slightest clue. She just picked a direction and walked, hands stretched out to guide her past the trunks of scattered trees and brush. It was all a matter of trust with the TARDIS; the ship had led her safely this far, so surely she'd tell Rose when to stop, right?

Her answer came after the ground dipped downhill, a fact that Rose had missed completely when she stepped on loose rock and lost her footing. She slid down the slope feet first, but she came out of it with little more than a racing heart and a few scratches.

Climbing back to her feet, Rose found herself...well, in the middle of nowhere. She was completely and utterly lost and disorientated in the darkness, where every tree looked the same. The incline she'd slid down did little to help regain her bearings. More than a little frustrated, she stalked over to a patch of green grass and dropped down to sit with her legs crossed, ready to have a one-sided argument with the TARDIS. She'd hardly parked her arse down when a giggle rang out beside her.

Rose screamed, a right horrifying sound that would have stirred the dead in their graves had she been anywhere else. Her body leapt sideways of its own accord and if she'd had the skill, she'd have clawed her way right up the tree her back was currently crushed against as she floundered about like a flightless bird. It took a painful second for her eyes to lock onto the source of hushed noises; a woman's calming voice that repeatedly tried to tell her it was alright, she'd meant no harm. No harm indeed!

"Susan! My God, don't _do_ that!" Rose hissed and clutched at her racing chest in an effort to rein in some control. "I mean, really! Human or not, I just about-" She froze mid-rant, breath sucking in sharp as the reality of who sat before her set in.

Rose blinked once, twice, three times, unable to believe what her eyes were telling her. The woman sat a stone's throw away from her, all ginger and legs and beaming smile that Rose would have loved to wipe off her face after giving her such a scare. Susan was in her third body, having regenerated after a fatal wound during the beginning of the Time War. In fact, she was even wearing the exact same outfit from the last time Rose saw her.

The material of her body suit was black woven peruvial-silk, a finely-spun thread from a species of Gallifreyan spider that had three times the strength of titanium steel on Earth. Pinned at her right shoulder, the crest of Lungbarrow held a green-blue billowing cape that flowed smoothly down her arms and back. Her shock of ginger hair was cropped short like her first incarnation, a style she'd kept during the whole of her existence, and her eyes, they were still a piercing green from her days of youth and innocence...except they were hardened from the scars of war and loss.

The Time Lady looked battle-weary and many years older, though, and Rose wondered how long of a gap in time had passed between them before this chance encounter. And how had she even managed to get into the ship?

"I'm just an image," Susan answered softly, reading the question and shock from Rose's face. "And I apologise for frightening you so badly, Rose. How have you been?"

"You mean after you dumped me? Do you even know _when_ you dropped me off? It's been fifty bloody_ years_ since I last saw you! S'like talkin' to a ghost, this is." Rose took in a gulp of air and let it out shakily. She'd managed to crawl her way closer to Susan, but as mentioned, the older woman wasn't physically there so her outstretched hand passed through the hologram.

Susan bowed her head sadly. "There was a glitch in my TARDIS, I'm sorry. It wasn't planned like that, but I had to protect you, Rose. Grandfather would have died if he ever thought something had happened to you." Her eyes snapped to Rose, pleading. "And you're the key, here. You're still needed. This conversation right now should be utterly impossible, considering."

"An' where are you, right now? How..."

"The Timelines are converging together...time is bleeding. As the Elder Ood verses Grandfather right this moment; 'Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future, and the present, and the past!' Rassilon-"

"Is gonna break the Timelock, yeah. I know. I'm pretty sure the Master's involved too."

"Perceptive."

"Naw, jus' rememberin' how things would have gone had I not mucked about with the Doctor's original Timeline. When I changed his future, I thought that maybe...maybe the Master's madness would have been cured. I mean, if the Timelock was never broken, they wouldn't have implanted the drumming inside his head, yeah? But, after reaching Gallifrey, I met the Master as a child and he was still tormented by it!"

Susan regarded Rose with a curious gaze, having been long-time enemies with the renegade Time Lord herself. "Do you not hate him, knowing what he's done or would do, given the opportunity?" She had to ask. Having lived among humans and loved them, it still surprised her at how much a single heart could forgive.

"I hate his choices; his actions." Rose mused, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "Yeah, I don't really know him and all I have to judge by are the few moments in the forest we had together...but then, is it truly my place to judge anyone at all?"

"Humans! I'll never understand you lot," Susan laughed, but she expected nothing less from Rose Tyler. She then sighed heavily and glanced up into the dark canopy. "Rose, have you ever wondered _how_ you made it to Gallifrey?"

Susan was answered with a shrug she didn't see. "The jumper malfunctioned, yeah? I didn't have a picture firmly in mind and the other Doctor did something to save me from getting trapped."

Cocking her head to the side, Susan fixed Rose with a mischievous grin, her eyes dancing. "Not quite. I may have cheated a bit. Okay, maybe a lot."

"...go on..."

"Your Jumper there, it's special. I made it, knowing that it would bring you to Gallifrey because it'd already happened. It was all in the timing and I walked a fine line to keep the balance within the Universe as I toyed with the Timelines in secret. As you know, it was a future version of me who found and nursed you back to health. That me was prepared for it, planned for it."

Rose listened intently, her chin resting on the top her knees as Susan resumed her canopy-gazing.

"I had to ease you into my first incarnation's Timeline once you knew where you were and understood the dangers with living here. So many rules were broken that day; crossing into my Timeline, revealing my future to myself, bringing you into the TARDIS before your time, allowing you to exist on Gallifrey for any length of time. But I knew the War was coming, sensed it in every fibre of my being and I thought I could make a difference.

"And it isn't over, not by a long shot. The War still wages and so many people are suffering because of it. Changing the Doctor's Timeline has not altered Rassilon's plot to shatter the Timelock and if he succeeds, it will be the end of Time itself. We both know that!"

"But what does this have to do with _me_?"

Susan ducked her head, glaring at the grass before bringing her gaze to lock back with Rose's. "All I can dare to say is that your Timeline can change things in ways that no one else could ever hope to. The possibilities, the lives at stake...we can make such a difference if only you find that key! If anyone else were to try and alter a fixed point in time, the Universe would collapse. The Time War must end at the hands of Grandfather like it already has in your Timestream. But...oh, Rose...we could so much more...you just have to figure out what those numbers mean."

It was almost as if someone hit the mute button because Susan's mouth kept moving but Rose couldn't hear her anymore.

"Susan? Susan, I can't-" but the image fizzled into nothing and Rose was sitting alone in the forest once again. She swore colourfully, struggling to her feet and fumed at the riddles and puzzles left unsolved.

"The numbers mean something, she says! What numbers? And why me?! Why can't anyone just give me some bloody answers for once?"

Rose kicked at a rock and then wished she hadn't, the blasted thing biting through the side of her trainer with a sharp edge. It only fuelled her anger more and she balled up her fists and threw her head back to scream as loud as she could. The sound echoed through the forest, falling on empty ears but it helped relieve the tension just a little.

Sinking back to the ground, Rose searched her trouser pockets for her mobile. When things got tricky, Jack had always been a phone call away and there was also the Torchwood team to consider. Maybe they could help her out, one last time. She couldn't do this on her own.

As she pulled the phone free, a few crumpled papers fell to the grass beside her, catching her eye. Rose grabbed the first one and flattened it enough to read her writing, reading the notes she'd jotted down not too long ago while flipping through her diary. They were _numbers_...

Hitting speed-dial, she rang Jack with purpose, her heart leaping at the possibilities suddenly unveiled to her.

"Jack!" she barked when he answered the line, "I need you to patch these numbers into the central network, please. I think...they're coordinates."

There was a pause as she listened to Jack's professional voice jump right into the conversation as if he'd been expecting the call. He called Sonera to his side, explained his encounter with the Ood, and then asked Rose where the hell they were because the TARDIS had dematerialized hours ago. The Doctor had told him to stay out of it, but this was Torchwood business as far as he was concerned and Jack never made him any promises.

Startled to learn that they'd moved without her knowledge, Rose gave him what information she did know and then proceeded to explain about her chance meeting with Susan.

"And I've no idea where the Doctor is. I was heading back to the console room when I ended up...deeper in the TARDIS. But that's not my concern right now. I'm gonna text these numbers to you so that you get them right the first time, alright?"

More muffled replies came through the phone and then Rose ended the call. Her mobile was still an old flip-phone and the texting keys were nothing fancy but muscle memory went to work as she punched the numbers in blindly, her eyes glued to the paper. When it was finished, Rose glanced at the screen to double-check the coordinates and promptly threw the phone to the ground with a gasp.

She backed up into the trunk of a nearby tree as she stared at the soft light glowing from the open screen, her heart pounding on a whole new level as her mind swirled with the name she'd just read on her mobile. The text had been locked on letters instead of numbers as she'd typed out those coordinates. And they read one word; BADWOLF.

* * *

When the Doctor rushed into the TARDIS, he found Rose sitting quietly on the jump seat, absentmindedly chewing on a nail as she stared up at the ceiling. He didn't pause to greet her, instead throwing the ship into the vortex to take them to the year 2010 on Christmas day. His body was an even more nervous mass of negative energy and once auto-pilot took over, he rounded on Rose.

"Why didn't you tell me the Master was resurrected?" He didn't yell, but his eyes were hard and his voice short and clipped.

"Because I'd hoped it wouldn't be true. That this...all of this, could have been avoided." Rose answered calmly, her eyes the only part of her that moved in his direction. Before he could retort, she kept talking in that cool, collected voice. It almost sounded sad, maybe even tired.

"Right now, a man by the name of Wilfred Mott is searching for you. I know how that turns out, so it'd be in your best interest to avoid him at all costs. The Master's gonna be uncontrollable and difficult, so be prepared for that as well. The rest is up to you, really. I'm not supposed to be a part of this."

The Doctor was silent for a long moment as he stared at her, her eyes having travelled back to the ceiling almost in quiet defeat. She was surrendering. She wasn't going to get involved... "You're staying here? In the TARDIS?" He dared to hope. If she stayed, her life would be safe. It had to be!

"Jus' don't get yourself killed, yeah?" Rose said instead, sighing as her head lolled to the side to give the Time Lord a half-smile that never touched her eyes.

He took the few steps to reach her and knelt down to her level, taking her hand with one of his. "I love you," he said simply, catching Rose off guard.

She stiffened and then snapped, grabbing him by the lapels to yank him forward for a demanding kiss that he desperately returned until they were both breathless. She then pushed him away and settled herself more firmly in her seat.

"Off with you, then, before I change my mind." The Doctor wisely agreed and left without another word.

The second those doors locked behind him, Rose pulled out her mobile and made the call.

"Jack, what do have for me? - And you're sure? - Alright, I want eyes in every alley and side-street and keep Sonera patched into the comms at all times. - No, we just need her for communication when I make the jump. The Jumper's locked with the central tower system so that I make it there the first time. I'm jumping blindly this time; those coordinates must be exact so keep those comms up! - I'll do my best. And Jack? ...thanks."

Rose snapped the phone shut and slid to her feet. _Stay safely in the TARDIS?_ -she thought - I think not!

* * *

End Author's Note: Next chapter in the works. Thanks for sticking with me with all the craziness happening in my neck of the woods. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up relatively soon. Loved the reviews and always look forward to new ones. If I haven't replied to any reviews from last chapter, I'm trying to catch up on em!


	24. Chapter 24

As stated in the last chapter, you may recognize dialog from The End of Time Parts 1 & 2. All rights to the BBC, even if I've modified the bits I needed for this chapter. For the purpose of this chapter only, _'This represents mental speech where the Ood are concerned and nothing more'_ Shouldn't be hard to understand, right?

I'm fuming a bit with whofic and their stuffy arses so fanfic gets this update FIRST!

Chapter 24

* * *

As the Doctor lost himself in the streets of London on a brisk, overcast Christmas Eve, he couldn't help but recap his meeting with the Ood Elders not even an hour ago.

**-Flashback-**

Sitting with the Ood Elders, the Doctor joins hands at their insistence on sharing a telepathic link between them.

The Doctor startles at the image; the cackling image of the Master flooding his head. He rips his hands free as he tries to deny the evidence.

_'He comes to us,'_ the leader says, _'Every night. I think all the peoples of the universe dream of him now.'_

"That man is dead," the Doctor denies vehemently.

_'There is yet more. Join us. Events are taking shape. So many years ago and yet changing the now. There is a man, so scared.' _

He cautiously rejoins the circle of handholding, instantly recognizing the next vision. This alarms him worse. "Wilfred! Is he alright? What about Donna? Is she safe?"

_'The lines of convergence are being drawn across the Earth. Even now, the King is in his Counting House.' _the Elder states instead, refusing to answer him. A vision of a black man beside his daughter flashes in the Doctor's mind.

"I don't know who they are."

_'And there is another. The most lonely of all. Lost and forgotten.'_

"The Master's wife."

This time Ood Sigma speaks. _'We see so much but understand so little. The woman in the cage, who is she?'_

The Doctor tries to explain. "She was– it wasn't her fault. She was– The Master, he's a Time Lord like me." The Ood seem puzzled at his remark so he tries a different method. "I can show you." He proceeds to mentally recap events of Lucy's involvement.

"The Master took the name of Saxon. He married a human, a woman called Lucy. And he corrupted her. She stood at his side while he conquered the Earth. I reversed everything he'd done so it never even happened. But Lucy Saxon remembered. I held him in my arms, I burned his body. The Master is dead."

_'And yet, you did not see.'_

"What's that?" A flash in the past shows a woman picking up a ring. "Part of him survived. I have to go!"

_'But something more is happening, Doctor,'_ the Ood Elder interrupts, _'The Master is part of a greater design. Because a shadow is falling over creation. Something vast is stirring in the dark. The Ood have gained this power to see through time because time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil. And these events from years ago threaten to destroy this future and the present and the past. This is what we have seen, Doctor. The darkness heralds only one thing: the end of Time itself.'_

-**End Flashback**-

He'd received the message loud and clear. Something was coming, something much bigger than the Master's resurrection, though he was a key element in the events happening now. Between the Ood's warning and Rose's admissions, there wasn't any doubt in the Doctor's mind now; the Time Lords were coming back. And that was really, really bad.

As if condemning all those innocent people wasn't vile enough the first time; now he was faced with the reality of having to cast them right back into hell. And his senses ached with the sheer force of the changes taking place, Timelines twisting into oblivion as the each piece of the puzzle locked into place, ensuring Gallifrey's return. He had to stop it or _everything_ would die.

This was part of what Rose had been trying to prevent, he realized. She'd seen this possible Timeline centuries ago when the heart of the TARDIS burned within her veins as well as during their baby's failed regeneration. She wanted to save him from the guilt and torment of slaughtering his people all over again. And she was desperate to save his life too.

That's where Wilfred Mott came into play, something he'd always questioned because, time and time again, he'd seen the Timelines converging on the little old man after leaving Donna Noble behind. Rose's warning confirmed his suspicions, as well. Running into Wilf meant death. Well, not on his watch, it wasn't! The Universe deemed their meeting a fixed point, but the Time Lord was fighting back for once in complete defiance. He'd made a secret promise to come home to Rose alive and _not_ regenerated. Of all the promises to break, that one wasn't an option.

Still, the Doctor had one hell of a time avoiding one Wilfred Mott. At every corner, the man seemed to pop into his line of vision and twice, he'd almost ran smack into the poor sod; once in front of a book shop and then again in front of a small cafe. What was worse, Wilf had a gaggle of friends on the hunt for the Time Lord as well. The 'Silver Cloak' - as they called themselves, he'd overheard- were making his life more difficult, but he couldn't really blame their cause.

Ducking into a small shop, the Doctor snagged a brown cap and matching scarf to better help hide his appearance from the Noble family and company. At the counter, his eye caught the cover of a book written by a man named Joshua Naismith, though the name wasn't what snagged his attention. Right on the front was the image of a man shown to him by the Ood.

"I'd like to buy that book as well," the Doctor said, grabbing the top copy and passing it to the clerk with the rest of his items. The woman behind the counter shrugged and rung up his total with little more interest for anything other than her important phone chat.

The Doctor paid the shop clerk with a wad of notes and hurried on his way, shoving the cap on his head before fumbling with the scarf. Good grief, now that was annoying! How'd he ever managed to put up with that monstrosity of a scarf centuries ago was beyond him. It took him two tries to adjust the strip of fabric until it was tolerable around his neck. He felt smothered, but it would have to do for now.

Decently disguised, the Doctor fished the book out from inside his coat and skimmed through the pages with a flick of his thumb, reading it Time Lord-style. The details were rather alarming, pointing to the author's possible involvement in something potentially dangerous and most likely connected in some way to the Time Lords' return. He had to find the Master, and quickly.

It wasn't hard to track his enemy down because the Master made the first step by calling for him. There was an echo, the slightest of whispers in the back of the Doctor's mind that demanded his presence accordingly. It lead him to a junkyard just as the sun was setting over the horizon, the orange ball dipping down into the murky waters beyond the bay.

The place was bleaker in the dimming light, littered with shadowy mountains of trash, rock, and debris that only served to dampen his mood further. Somewhere in that rubble, the Master was hiding, goading him on with the banging of what he could only assume to be a metal pipe slamming against a metal drum. Something was wrong though, and the Doctor could feel it.

The Master's mind was so much weaker than before and he shuddered at the very rawness of it. To him, the brush of the Master's mind was more like the prodding of needles against an open wound. It wasn't natural, his resurrection. And his life force was failing, depleting at such a rapid pace that his existence shouldn't have been possible.

He broke out into a run when the Master's hysterical laugh echoed from all around him, the beating of metal against metal finally silenced. The junkyard was much like a maze, but the Doctor trained his senses on the stench of death, knowing instinctively that it was the crazed Time Lord.

Turning a sharp right around a pile of rock, the Doctor spotted his quarry as the Master crested a mound of rubble. The man looked deranged, gnawing on a human femur as he crouched to regard the Doctor from his perch. He wore a black sweat suit and a navy hoodie. His face needed a good scrub and a shave. His eyes were filled with a hunger so cold and full of greed and vengeance that a lesser man would have turned and ran. It was the lowest of places to be, even for the Master. His madness was finally at its peak.

Before the Doctor could react, the Master threw down his bone and screamed, his hands glowing as they charged with energy. He thrust them forward, shooting electric bolts at the Doctor but the Time Lord just stood there, refusing to run in fear. When the third bolt nailed him directly in the chest, he fought the pain as it coursed through his body. It took every bit of will power to remain standing, but when the shock ended, his legs buckled. He landed on his knees, hands thrust forward to catch himself as he panted from the aftershocks of so much energy.

The Master laughed, sliding down from his mound of trash and knelt beside the Doctor, observing him with mild amusement. His mood changed abruptly, getting serious and slightly sad as only the Master could in his insanity.

"I had estates," he began, looking up into the dark sky. "Do you remember my father's land back home? Pastures of red grass stretching far across the slopes of Mount Perdition. We used to run across those fields all day, calling up at the sky. Look at us now."

The Doctor struggled to sit back on his knees and glared at the Master.

"All that eloquence. But how many people have you killed? You reek of death; rotting human flesh."

The Master flashed him a pained expression. "I am so hungry."

"Your resurrection went wrong." the Doctor explained, trying to fight the bile that rose in his throat at the Master's reasoning. "That energy...you're body's ripped open. Now you're killing yourself."

"And that's human Christmas out there!" the Master began to rant, ignoring the Doctor's words. "They eat so much! All that roasting meat, cakes and red wine. Hot, fat, blood, food. Pots, plates of meat and flesh and grease and juice. And baking, burnt, sticky, hot skin. Hot! It's so hot!"

"Stop it.."

"Slice! Slice!"

"Stop it!"

"It's mine. It's mine, it's mine it's mine! Eat it, eat it, eat it, eat it!" The Master grabbed fistfuls of his blonde hair and shook his head to fight his frantic ranting.

"Stop it!" the Doctor commanded, almost yelling. He then dropped his voice. "What if I ask you for help? Something is returning, something bad."

The Master cackled at this. "And here I am!" he yelled, pointing at himself with glee.

"No, something more! I was told 'the end of Time-'"

"But it hurts! It hurts..." the Master interrupted, holding his head again. "Doctor, the noise!"

He practically crawled up the Time Lord's body to shake his shoulders. "The noise in my head, Doctor! One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Stronger than ever before! Can't you hear it?"

The Doctor regarded him warily, trying to lean away from the stench of the man gripping his shoulders. "No."

"Listen! Listen. Listen. Listen. Every minute, every second, every beat of my hearts, there it is, calling to me. Please listen. Listen!" the Master hissed, placing trembling fingers on the Doctor's temples.

The Doctor leapt back as if he'd been slapped, falling on his arse.

"What?" the Master barked, a spark of hope in his beady eyes.

"I..." It was so hard to believe, but he'd heard an echo from the Master's mind. He'd only gotten a taste of it, that sharp tapping rhythm of four hard beats bouncing around his skull and it was enough to make his head ache worse than a morning hangover. The Doctor couldn't even begin to imagine...

"What?" the Master demanded.

"...I heard it!" the Doctor gaped. "But that's no noise. There never has been, it's just your insanity. What is it? What's inside your head?!"

"It's real!" the Master crowed hysterically, bounding to his feet. "It's real! It's REAL!" He bolted with a cheer, leaping straight into the air and vanishing behind the mound of rubble.

The Doctor stumbled to his feet and gave chase, panting heavily as his body strained to move forward. He tripped over rocks and debris, his energy sapped thanks to the Master's welcoming blast. Thankfully, he didn't have far to run. The Master was waiting for him on a new pile of concrete rubble.

"All these years and you thought I was mad! King of the wasteland. But something is calling me, Doctor. What is it? What is it? ...WHAT IS IT?!"

He didn't answer, hands balling into tight fists as the Master stared him down. The Doctor's mind raced, sensing a key to so many puzzles right under his nose, but what? Something was calling him, the Master? That beat in his head was foreign, but so eerily familiar at the same time. How was it connected to the Time Lords' return?

The answer hit him moments too late. Caught up their riddles and feud, neither Time Lord heard the helicopter's approach until it was on them. Blinding lights and gun shots descended, causing the Doctor to flee for cover. He barely managed to escape inside a large metal pipe, but the Master was not so lucky. He watched from his shelter as his enemy was tranquillised and lifted into the air by men and ropes. There was nothing he could do to stop it, but he had an idea where they were going.

Joshua Naismith's dream was to find immortality for human kind. According to his book, "Fighting the Future", Naismith possessed was a large chunk of alien technology that he believed could grant him such gifts. The man was a fool, playing with fire he knew little about, but the Doctor knew. Oh, he knew... And if they were desperate enough to kidnap the Master, that fire was about to spread uncontrollably.

There was a portal on Earth that should not be, and every fibre in his being screamed that it was a key component to the events taking place. Now they had the Master...and in his head, the drum of a double-heartbeat drove him to the edge, luring him into the final trap.

The ambush from Naismith's men did nothing to distract the Doctor from his musing. That revelation he'd had was still front and centre and it terrified him...because the Doctor knew what that sound was. It was the beating of his own hearts; a Time Lord heartbeat... Gallifrey was calling the Master to arms.

* * *

Rose stared at the monitor, her body stiff with tension as she watched the Doctor do what he did best; investigate. He was tracking down Naismith after the Master's kidnapping and soon she'd lose sight of him completely. She'd been unable to hack into the author's home security systems, leaving her blind and fretful. In times like these, she wished Sonera had been here to help her, but there were two millennia of Time and Space separating them. It was hard enough to keep a signal locked between time periods.

Using Rose's mobile as a homing beacon, Jack and Sonera were able to establish a free-standing comm link through the TARDIS, allowing limited conversation because of the amount of power it drained from her phone when used. So long as the phone was on, the connection remained. Making a call, however, could kill the battery too soon. Therefore, Rose was on her own until she made the final call to take the plunge.

The signal between her mobile and the Torchwood team was amplified through Torchwood's central tower system, a device so advanced that it had the ability to become a sort of transmat with some more tinkering. The CTS was one of Sonera's pet projects and was only now being put to the test, a fact that didn't escape Rose in the slightest. However, she was at their mercy, relying on the CTS and her team to guide her Jumper. If it failed...

She pushed the thought aside. It would work. Rose had to believe that. This was her one and only chance to save the Doctor and nothing would go wrong. Wilfred Mott was thankfully out of the picture, so there was just one more obstacle in her way; Rassilon. She would stop him and end the destruction he threatened to every living being in the multiverse.

The pain in her head struck with a vengeance, sudden and sharp to the point that her legs buckled from sheer agony. Rose swore colourfully, falling to her knees on the grating as she gripped either side of her face. It felt like a hammer smashing into her forehead and gravity seemed to have vanished as the world spun in every direction at once. Her stomach churned and she heaved its contents onto the floor. The pounding in her head became howling, and a malevolent laugh filled the room, only it wasn't coming from the console room at all. It was coming from within her mind.

"It's time to Jump, my precious Rose."

Her eyes snapped open against the pain at the voice within her head. Rose knew she was lying on the floor within the TARDIS, but that's not what she saw now. She stood in the gateway of her own mind, the walls and doors white just as they'd always been. But in the centre stood the wolf, a creature of malice and hate, the one who'd been stalking her dreams in the shadows of every night unbeknown to even her.

"The end of Time approaches!" it howled.

Without her consent, her arm dove into her pocket, grasping her mobile firmly in hand. It felt as if she no longer had control of her body, Rassilon's wolf dialling the number to Torchwood Seven. The words that fell from her lips were not her own. "Time to Jump."

Seconds later, her Vortex Jumper glowed and she was forced to her feet, her mobile clattering to the ground. With a vice-grip on the console unit, Rose fought back for control. She was sucked into the Void and all hell broke loose.

* * *

The Doctor was furious. He'd fought his way into Naismith's mansion, found the Master, ended up caught and beaten, managed to worm his way out of his bonds to freedom thanks to a couple of cacti aliens, and tried to reason with the mad man before him as the Master proceeded to turn every human being into...the Master. Of all the ways to dominate the Universe, that was just...well, insane. It was the Master, however, and he loved to be in control. But there was something much bigger at play here than owning the Universe. He was being manipulated.

The Doctor glared at the Master's duplicate army, a gun trained at him from every angle. He was still trying to talk reason into his foe. The Master hadn't the slightest clue of what he'd just unleashed. Or so he thought.

"Think about it, Master. You're brilliant, it should be easy. Just think. Six billion people, all you, with the same drumming beat inside their heads." the Doctor pleaded.

"I know!" the Master, the original one, cheered gleefully from his chair and he hopped up to do a little victory dance. "And isn't it just fantastic? Something, someone, out there is calling me, Doctor. And with six-billion me's on this planet? Triangulate all those signals and I can find its source!"

"Master, you can stop this! The end of Time is coming, we have to stop it. You're playing right into their trap!" He moved to shake some sense into the Master but his uniformed duplicates reminded him of their shiny toys that were aimed at his hearts and head.

"Trap? Ha! I'm the ruler of this world and I'll do and say as I please, Doctor. This isn't a trap, it's my calling. My destiny. Now then, hush, hush. We've got some meditation to do."

The Master walked over to the wall of computer monitors and beamed at his other selves in every screen. The Master Race was planet-wide, every screen holding his face from China to Russia and every other country. He thought himself invincible.

"Everyone, are we ready?" he spoke into the microphone at his commanding officers.

The one under the screen labelled 'China' grinned back. "Every one of us is prepared."

"Then listen. All of us. Across the world. Just...listen!" the Master closed his eyes and all fell silent. "Concentrate. Find the signal."

The Doctor tensed, frozen, as a shiver of dread crawled up his spine, the timelines snapping around his senses at mind-crippling speed. Something shot from the sky, an object forced into existence from one impossible place into the Earth's atmosphere. Both Time Lords felt it, the Doctor gritting his teeth from the sheer wrongness of it and the Master crowing in triumph.

"It's coming from the sky! Find it!"

Within moments, it impacted the earth's crust, landing some place close to Naismith's property. The Master's army braved the fiery crater at the crash site and unearthed the source, rushing it back to their leader's waiting hands.

The Doctor didn't know what it was, but he knew where it'd come from. So it was no surprise to him when the Master spun around to flash a white-point star in his face, the rarest of Gallifreyan diamonds. He recognized it as the one from Rassilon's staff.

"Contact!" the Master laughed. "We have contact. Ho, this is even more brilliant than I'd hoped. The Time Lords are calling me, Doctor. I'm bringing Gallifrey back from extinction."

"Master, no! Bringing them back was never meant to be, this is madness!" Still held at gun point, he was unable to do more than plead with his rival. He was seething on the inside, but his hearts were torn as he felt the inevitable snapping into place with every heartbeat.

"Send the signal back and the link becomes a pathway!" the Master was chanting, talking aloud as he set the diamond on a transmitter to broadcast the signal from every possible point on Earth. "Come home! Ha ha, come home!"

The Vinvocci Gate activated, it's coding locking onto the signal and it began to process its programmed commands. It was a medical gate, meant to heal the body as explained by the Vinvocci alien pair who'd come to Earth to collect it, before fleeing for their lives after the Master's take-over. The only problem was that it healed on a much larger scale; it mended whole planets...and Gallifrey was set into its template.

The Doctor yelled in fury as Time itself trembled under the stain of such universal pressure. The Time-lock shattered.

* * *

End Author's Note: Next chapter due in 3-7 more days. It's finished and in the final stages of proofing now. Also, there are only a few more chapters left in ToT before I wrap it up and move on to more stories. This is my second attempt at posting this chapter up. *grumbles* Thanks to my beta ten_doctor_rose for all her help and loved the reviews. Responding to 'em now.


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